Shima Bahmani; Zahra Yaghoubi; Ali Kazemian
Abstract
Background: Assessing dental students’ attitudes toward providing services to disadvantaged populations is essential for improving community-based training programs. Up to now, few scales have been developed to measure dental students' attitudes about deprived groups, among which the “Dental ...
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Background: Assessing dental students’ attitudes toward providing services to disadvantaged populations is essential for improving community-based training programs. Up to now, few scales have been developed to measure dental students' attitudes about deprived groups, among which the “Dental Students’ Attitudes Toward Underserved populations instrument” (DSATU) is a reliable questionnaire.
Objectives: This study aimed to assess and confirm the validity and reliability of Persian version of the DSATU questionnaire.
Methods: In this validation study, translation and cultural adaptation were made by translation and back-translation method. A panel of experts assessed the face and content validity qualitatively. The content validity was assessed using a quantitative approach (which included the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and the Content Validity Index (CVI). The item’s impact score was evaluated by dental students. The test-retest method and Cronbach’s alpha were used to determine the reliability.
Results: The questionnaire was revised and modified based on the validation results. Regarding CVR, two questions were excluded. Moreover, according to CVI and impact score results, eight questions were modified and corrected. Total cronbach’s alpha coefficient (= 0.831) and intraclass correlation coefficient (0.83) were acceptable. The Pearson and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient indicated that the reliability was appropriate.
Conclusion: The introduced Persian version of the DSATU questionnaire is a culturally appropriate, valid, and reliable instrument for Persian researchers who intend to evaluate the attitude of dental students toward underserved populations. Moreover, it can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of community-based training programs in longitudinal studies.
Parvin Rezaei-Gazki; Ali Delavar; Abdolwahab Samavi
Abstract
Background Academic commitment as a new specialized issue has attracted the attention of educational researchers. Despite of the conducting relevant studies, it was more considered by Human-Vogel and Rabe. Their designed research tool has not yet been used in Iran. Objectives The purpose of this study ...
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Background Academic commitment as a new specialized issue has attracted the attention of educational researchers. Despite of the conducting relevant studies, it was more considered by Human-Vogel and Rabe. Their designed research tool has not yet been used in Iran. Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the factor structure and reliability of this tool in Iranian learners. Methods The primary tool consisted of 30 items and 5 dimensions (students’ satisfaction with their studies, level of commitment, investment, quality of alternatives, and meaningfulness). In this cross-sectional study, 449 pre-university students of Bandar Abbas city were selected through multi-stage sampling. Data were analyzed using AMOS and SPSS software. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine factor structure. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Gottman and Spearman-Brown split-half coefficients, were used to test the reliability. Results After examination the validity of the tool, five items were excluded and finally a questionnaire including 25 questions was obtained. Beta coefficients were greater than 0.4. Model fit indices, including root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), Comparative fit index (CFI), goodness of fit index (GFI), adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI), normed fit index (NFI), incremental fit index (IFI), and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) were obtained 0.04, 0.95, 0.91, 0.90, 0.90, 0.95, and 0.94, respectively, indicating the fitness of this five-factor tool. A Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.87, a Gottman’s split-half of 0.65, and a Spearman-Brown split-half of 0.68 were obtained, indicating the appropriate reliability of the instrument. Conclusions Based on the results, the final version of the tool seems to be suitable for assessing academic commitment in Iranian learners in the Iran educational systems.
Nastaran Ghotbi; Saeed Nasrollahi
Abstract
Background and Objectives Teaching clinical skills to students who provide health services is of great importance. Many universities use questionnaires to make qualitative assessments about the teaching of these skills based on the students’ point of view. In many cases, the learning environment ...
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Background and Objectives Teaching clinical skills to students who provide health services is of great importance. Many universities use questionnaires to make qualitative assessments about the teaching of these skills based on the students’ point of view. In many cases, the learning environment affects teaching; however, this issue is not often taken into account while designing questionnaires. In addition, it is necessary to specialize the questionnaires because the clinical trainings of different medical groups differ from each other. The aims of this study were 1, to develop a questionnaire that could be used for quality assessment of clinical education provided by faculty members of rehabilitation school and 2, to evaluate the validity and reliability of such a questionnaire. Methods Based on the clinical education curriculums of the departments of rehabilitation school, a questionnaire consisting of two sections assessing teaching quality (24 items) and learning environment (7 items) was designed. Face and content validity of the questionnaire was approved during several feedback stages based on the opinions of the faculty members. In addition, the reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated by administering it to 25 undergraduate students during a given time interval. Results Using Cronbach’s alpha, the internal consistency values of the questionnaire for teaching quality and learning environment components were found to be 0.94 and 0.73, respectively. The results of the test-retest reliability were as follows: intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.95 and 0.96; Pearson correlation coefficient of r = 0.92 and r = 0.93, and paired t-test of P > 0.05. Conclusions Both the teaching quality and learning environment sections in the designed questionnaire were found to be valid and reliable. The results showed that the questionnaire could be used to assess the quality of clinical education provided by faculty members in rehabilitation schools.
Reza Mahdavi; Shanaz Pooladi; Masoud Bahreini; Niloufar Motamed; Fatemeh Hajinezhad
Abstract
Background: Clinical education is a major component of nursing programs, and nurses’ failure to acquire the necessary clinical skills during their studies compromises the provision of high - quality nursing services in their occupational future. The present study was conducted to design and determine ...
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Background: Clinical education is a major component of nursing programs, and nurses’ failure to acquire the necessary clinical skills during their studies compromises the provision of high - quality nursing services in their occupational future. The present study was conducted to design and determine the psychometric properties of the clinical skills questionnaire for operating room nursing students.Methods: The present methodological research designed and determined the psychometric properties of the questionnaire in four steps, including defining the concept of clinical skill in nursing students using a book and literature review, designing the questionnaire’s items using the available resources in Iran and other countries, assessing face and content validity of the questionnaire by 10 university students and experts, and examining the internal consistency of the questionnaire using Cronbach’s alpha.Results: The final version of the clinical skills questionnaire, which included 38 items, generated four subscales, including responsibilities of scrub nurse, responsibilities of circulating nurse, recovery room care of patients, and sterilization and infection control. In terms of psychometric properties, we observed a content validity ratio of 0.90, a content validity index of 0.95, and internal consistency showing a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.86.The findings confirmed the validity and reliability of the clinical skills questionnaire for operating room nursing students.Conclusions: The 38 - item questionnaire has appropriate psychometric properties and can be used in Iran’s educational and health systems by educational caregivers. Other validity indices, including construct validity, are recommended to be measured to determine the validity of the questionnaire subscales.
Mandana Shirazi; Teamur Aghamolaei; Ideh Dadgaran; Amin Ghanbarnejad
Volume 11, Issue 1 , May 2014, , Pages 45-54
Abstract
Background & Objective: Educational environment is an important determinant in success of a curriculum The quality of educational environment is one of the elements of effective learning The aim of this study was designing a valid and reliable tool for assessing academic educational environment ...
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Background & Objective: Educational environment is an important determinant in success of a curriculum The quality of educational environment is one of the elements of effective learning The aim of this study was designing a valid and reliable tool for assessing academic educational environment in schools of health Methods: Using a theoretical sampling method eight students and three faculty members of School of Health Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (Iran) were interviewed and 81 items related to educational environment were extracted These items were classified in six domains including school atmosphere teaching faculty members students educational equipments and facilities and physical environment Expert panels and assessing item impact were used to determine face validity and content validity ratio and index were used to determine content validity of the tool To determine its construct validity 250 students in completed the questionnaires and confirmatory factor analysis was applied Reliability of the tool was determined by Cronbachs Alpha and intracluster correlation coefficient Results: Due to expert panel and calculating item impact and content validity ratio and index the tool items decreased from 81 to 56 The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that all of factor loadings were significant in level of 005 Cronbachs Alpha for total items was 094 and for six domains ranged from 065 to 085 Moreover intracluster correlation coefficient for total items was 094 Conclusion: The designed tool has good validity and reliability and can be used as a suitable tool for assessing academic educational environment in schools of health
Mohammad Reza Mahmoodi
Volume 10, Issue 4 , February 2014, , Pages 421-430
Abstract
Background & Objective: Assessment systems should aim at evaluating the desired learning outcomes The aim of the present study was to design and validate a Mahmoodi Studying and Learning Approaches Questionnaire (MASLAQ) to identify students studying and learning methods in examinations Methods: ...
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Background & Objective: Assessment systems should aim at evaluating the desired learning outcomes The aim of the present study was to design and validate a Mahmoodi Studying and Learning Approaches Questionnaire (MASLAQ) to identify students studying and learning methods in examinations Methods: A structured 12item questionnaire was designed based on a modified 5point Likert scale in outline of visual analogue scale to seek information on students studying and learning approaches between multiplechoice questions (MCQs) and shortanswer questions (SAQs) examinations that may affect the students learning outcome Thirtyfour students who were selected by census completed the questionnaire by test and retest method before starting the research Results: Oneweek testretest reliability of the 12item questionnaire was measured by Cronbachs alpha at 081 Reliability of the validated 12item questionnaire (189 questionnaires) was measured by Cronbachs alpha at 077 Range of agreement coefficient of kappa for pre and posttest questionnaire items were 034060 Intraclass correlation coefficient between the pre and posttest questionnaire items was ICC = 093 (P < 0001) Content validity index was computed 088 for the overall scale Construct validity was also computed Conclusion: This validated and reliable questionnaire was the exclusive instrument to assess studying and learning approaches and to evaluate learning strategies of students based on selecting examination Key Words: Validate Questionnaire Studying and learning approach Multiplechoice question Shortanswer question
Shohreh Emdadi; Firouz Amani; Ali Reza Soltanian; Behzad Imani; Amirhosein Maghsoud; Setareh Shojaeei; Masoumeh Zargaran; Yadollah Fathi; Gholamhosein Fallahi; Mahnaz Khatibian; Majid Motamedzadeh; Farahnaz Kamali
Volume 10, Issue 1 , May 2013, , Pages 87-94
Abstract
Background & Objective: Evaluation is an essential process for educational institutions and one of the most common methods of evaluation of teachers is evaluation by students Students are the real customers in the educational process therefore their judgments should be important variables in determining ...
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Background & Objective: Evaluation is an essential process for educational institutions and one of the most common methods of evaluation of teachers is evaluation by students Students are the real customers in the educational process therefore their judgments should be important variables in determining teaching status of teachers According to customercentric principles the consumers satisfaction must be met This study assessed the validation of the current teacher evaluation form in theoretical courses Methods: This was a crosssectional study investigating the validity and reliability of the teacher evaluation form that is completed by students and identifying some factors affecting student evaluations To determine content validity of the teacher evaluation form 20 expert teachers were selected proportional to the number of teachers of each school of the Hamadan University of Medical Sciences To assess the reliability coefficient of the form 189 students were selected from different schools by proportional random sampling Results : According to the results questions such as rate of adherence to the determined topics providing practical application of teaching materials and the efficacy of determined assignments did not have the necessary validity score However the results indicated that validity of the questionnaire was acceptable In the present study the SpearmenBrown correlation coefficient indicated that the teacher evaluation form did not have an acceptable reliability (r = 0456 P < 0001) Conclusion: The current teacher evaluation form has an acceptable content validity but it does not seem reliable
Nozar Nakhaee; Ali Reza Saeed
Volume 7, Issue 2 , January 2011, , Pages 99-103
Abstract
Background & Objective : The 360degree evaluation method is used to assess residents performance by means other than attends opinions Resident evaluation instruments such as questionnaires for 360degree assessment should be feasible reliable and valid The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility ...
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Background & Objective : The 360degree evaluation method is used to assess residents performance by means other than attends opinions Resident evaluation instruments such as questionnaires for 360degree assessment should be feasible reliable and valid The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility and psychometric properties of the 360degree assessment questionnaires Methods : At first questionnaires were developed based on an extensive literature review and expert panel Sixitem questionnaires were distributed to a consecutive sample of residents (self & peers) medical students nurses and patients Mean scores of respondents in each category were calculated Cronbachs alpha was computed to examine the internal consistency Factor analysis was used to clarify the factoral structure of the data Spearman correlation coefficient was computed to examine the correlation between the evaluators scores Results : Except for faculty members and to some extent patients all evaluators completed the questionnaires The cronbachs alpha for all of the five instruments were above 095 Content validity was acceptable according to the literature reviews and expert panel Factor analysis revealed all six items loaded on a single factor A majority (80%) of correlation coefficients were not significant for evaluators scores Conclusion : Based on this pilot study 360degree assessment tools are feasible reliable and valid measures to evaluate core competencies of residents
