Study of Student's Attitudes towards Islamic Knowledge Courses at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Background and Continuous evaluation of the functions of Islamic Knowledge courses is critical in responding to the needs of students and transfer of Islamic values. Therefore, the present study was carried out to examine the student's attitude toward Islamic courses in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in the academic year of 2015-2016.
In this quantitative descriptive-analytical study, according to the Morgan’s table, 352 subjects were selected by random stratified sampling method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, whose Cronbach’s alpha reliability was estimated at 0.874. Data were analyzed in SPSS, version 16, using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and ANOVA.
Considering mean scores in each domain as a cut-off point, 58% and 42% of the students were satisfied and dissatisfied with the content of Islamic Knowledge courses, respectively; in the domain related to professors’ performance, 77.4% and 22.6% of the students were satisfied and dissatisfied, respectively. Further, in the domain of educational environment, 67.8% and 32.2% of the students were satisfied and dissatisfied, respectively. In general, the obtained data indicated the students’ positive attitude towards the performance of the three domains, particularly the professors’ performance domain.
In this study, students had a positive attitude towards the content, performance of professors, and educational environment of Islamic Knowledge courses. Continuous and periodic assessments must be conducted to improve students’ views regarding the drawbacks of these courses.