- International Journal of Assessment Tools in Education
- Vol: 3 Issue: 1
- Higher Education End-of-Course Evaluations: Assessing the Psychometric Properties Utilizing Explorat...
Higher Education End-of-Course Evaluations: Assessing the Psychometric Properties Utilizing Exploratory Factor Analysis and Rasch Modeling Approaches
Authors : Kelly D. Bradley, Eric M. Snyder, Angela K. Tombari
Pages : 3-22
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Publication Date : 2016-07-11
Article Type : Research
Abstract :This paper offers a critical assessment of the psychometric properties of a standard higher education end-of-course evaluation. Using both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Rasch modeling, the authors investigate the (a) an overall assessment of dimensionality using EFA, (b) a secondary assessment of dimensionality using a principal components analysis (PCA) of the residuals when the items are fit to the Rasch model, and (c) an assessment of item-level properties using item-level statistics provided when the items are fit to the Rasch model. The results support the usage of the scale as a supplement to high-stakes decision making such as tenure. However, the lack of precise targeting of item difficulty to person ability combined with the low person separation index renders rank-ordering professors according to minuscule differences in overall subscale scores a highly questionable practice.Keywords : Course Evaluations, Rasch, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Psychometrics, Tenure