Exploring the validity and reliability of a questionnaire for evaluating veterinary clinical teachers' supervisory skills during clinical rotations.

BACKGROUND: Feedback to aid teachers in improving their teaching requires validated evaluation instruments. When implementing an evaluation instrument in a different context, it is important to collect validity evidence from multiple sources. AIM: We examined the validity and reliability of the Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire (MCTQ) as an instrument to evaluate individual clinical teachers during short clinical rotations in veterinary education. METHODS: We examined four sources of validity evidence: (1) Content was examined based on theory of effective learning. (2) Response process was explored in a pilot study. (3) Internal structure was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis using 1086 student evaluations and reliability was examined utilizing generalizability analysis. (4) Relations with other relevant variables were examined by comparing factor scores with other outcomes. RESULTS: Content validity was supported by theory underlying the cognitive apprenticeship model on which the instrument is based. The pilot study resulted in an additional question about supervision time. A five-factor model showed a good fit with the data. Acceptable reliability was achievable with 10-12 questionnaires per teacher. Correlations between the factors and overall teacher judgement were strong. CONCLUSIONS: The MCTQ appears to be a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate clinical teachers' performance during short rotations.

Does a faculty development programme improve teachers' perceived competence in different teacher roles?

BACKGROUND: Changing concepts of education have led many medical schools to adopt student-centred approaches to teaching, requiring different teaching competencies than more traditional approaches. AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate whether participation in a faculty development (FD) programme had a positive effect on veterinary medical teachers' perceptions of their competence in seven different teaching roles. METHOD: All teaching staff of a veterinary medical school (251) were invited to complete a questionnaire asking about their perceived competence in seven teaching roles. A stepwise multiple linear regression analysis examined the effect of the completion of a FD programme on perceived teaching competence. RESULTS: There was a significant positive effect of the FD programme on teachers' perceived competence in majority of the teaching roles at issue. CONCLUSIONS: FD appeared to have a positive effect on the perceived competence of veterinary medical teachers. Further research should investigate whether FD actually results in improved teaching performance.