Reliability and validity of the faculty evaluation instrument used at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences: Results from the Haematology Course

Objectives: To assess reliability and validity of evaluation tool using Haematology course as an example. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at King Saud Bin Abdul Aziz University of Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2012, while data analysis was completed in 2013. The 27-item block evaluation instrument was developed by a multidisciplinary faculty after a comprehensive literature review. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed using principal component analysis with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalisation. Identified factors were combined to get the internal consistency reliability of each factor. Student's t-test was used to compare mean ratings between male and female students for the faculty and block evaluation. Results: Of the 116 subjects in the study, 80(69%) were males and 36(31%) were females. Reliability of the questionnaire was Cronbach's alpha 0.91. Factor analysis yielded a logically coherent 7 factor solution that explained 75% of the variation in the data. The factors were group dynamics in problem-based learning (alpha0.92), block administration (alpha 0.89), quality of objective structured clinical examination (alpha 0.86), block coordination (alpha 0.81), structure of problem-based learning (alpha 0.84), quality of written exam (alpha 0.91), and difficulty of exams (alpha0.41). Female students' opinion on depth of analysis and critical thinking was significantly higher than that of the males (p=0.03). Conclusion: The faculty evaluation tool used was found to be reliable, but its validity, as assessed through factor analysis, has to be interpreted with caution as the responders were less than the minimum required for factor analysis.