Does academic performance or personal growth share a stronger association with learning environment perception?

Objectives: This study was conducted to characterize the relative strength of associations of learning environment perception with academic performance and with personal growth. Methods: In 2012-2014 second and third year students at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine completed a learning environment survey and personal growth scale. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was employed to determine if the proportion of variance in learning environment scores accounted for by personal growth was significantly larger than the proportion accounted for by academic performance (course/clerkship grades). Results: The proportion of variance in learning environment scores accounted for by personal growth was larger than the proportion accounted for by academic performance in year 2 [R-2 Delta of 0.09, F-(1,F-175) = 14.99, p < .001] and year 3 [R-2 Delta of 0.28, F-(1,F-169) = 76.80, p < .001]. Learning environment scores shared a small amount of variance with academic performance in years 2 and 3. The amount of variance between learning environment scores and personal growth was small in year 2 and large in year 3. Conclusions: Since supportive learning environments are essential for medical education, future work must determine if enhancing personal growth prior to and during the clerkship year will increase learning environment perception.