Introduction:

The School of Nursing of the University of Chile implemented in 2013 a new curriculum based on professional skills. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this curricular innovation through the perception of the educational environment of students who, in 2014, experienced different types of curricula, either former or innovated.

Subjects and methods:

This was a cross-sectional study. Three cohorts (n = 300), two of them with a former curriculum and another with an innovated curriculum, were surveyed with the DREEM questionnaire. This instrument was designed to measure the perception of the educational environment, and consists of 50 items, divided into five sub-scales: perception about teaching, teachers and learning environment, academic and social self-perception.

Results:

Overall scores of the perception of the educational environment were significantly higher in the innovated curriculum cohort. No differences were detected between both cohorts with former curriculum. Of the 50 items in the DREEM questionnaire, students with an innovated curriculum presented 23 items with scores considered good (mean > 3.0) and only two items with worrying scores (mean < 2.0). Both cohorts with a former curriculum presented 8 and 11 items with scores considered good, and 10 and 7 items with worrying scores, respectively.

Conclusions:

According to the students' perception, the process of curricular innovation implemented in the School of Nursing has managed to correct deficient aspects of the former curriculum. However, it is still necessary to work on some aspects in order to remedy them and obtain an effective and successful teaching-learning process.

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