College students’ evaluation of effective teaching: Developing an instrument and assessing its psychometric properties

Students’ evaluations of teaching (SETs) are currently the most commonly used method for evaluating teaching effectiveness in higher education institutions. They aid in evaluating the quality of faculty teaching and provide useful information for administrators, faculty, and students. The majority of SET instruments were developed based on faculty and/or administrators’ knowledge and experience but excludes students’ input. The goals of this study were to develop a SET instrument using student samples from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), identify its dimensions, and assess its psychometric properties. Data collected from a total sample of 2367 students who were selected randomly and distributed in three different sub-samples. In the process of developing the SET instrument, two types of validity: content and construct, and two types of reliability: stability of the instrument over time and internal consistency were evaluated. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was also used to cross-validate the developed instrument. The final version of the SET instrument consists of 29 items in five dimensions. These five dimensions are: Teachers’ Knowledge and Organization (7 items), Clear Explanation (6 items), Grading and Evaluation (6 items), Teaching Methods (4 items), and Relationship with Students (6 items). The developed SET is neither short nor long and is not subject matter specific, so it can be used in different classrooms.