Design and Psychometric Evaluation of a Questionnaire to Assess Nursing and Midwifery Students’ Attitudes and Performance Towards Online Exams and Its Relationship With Academic Achievement



Molaei ZA¹ ; Mohammadi A² ; Hooshmandja M³ Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Payavard Salamat Published:2024

Abstract

Background and Aim: With the advancement of information technology in the new century, changes are experienced in all aspects of life. One of the reflections of these changes in education is conducting exams electronically instead of paper-and-pencil examinations. The success of virtual education is not achievable without considering the students’ viewpoints towards it. This study aimed to investigate the attitude and performance of students in online exams and their relationship with academic achievement. Materials and Methods: This research is a mixed-method study (qualitative-quantitative). First, all related articles published, between 2000 to 2022, were extracted from ERIC, PubMed, ScienceDirect databases, and the Google Scholar search engine. Then, the attitude and performance questionnaire was designed and validated based on the literature review results. All BSc and MSc. nursing and midwifery students of Sarivar Nassibeh School filled out the questionnaire. Two hundred and five questionnaires were analyzed with SPSS using descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (t-test) statistics. Results: Based on a content analysis of 15 selected articles, the extracted components were structured into 12 items. A preliminary questionnaire was designed with 28 questions across these 12 extracted components. Face validity was assessed using expert opinions, and necessary revisions were made. Both the Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR) coefficients were employed for content validity. The final questionnaire comprised 22 items using a five-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly agree (score 5) to strongly disagree (score 1), with an internal consistency of 0.69. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the questionnaire has six factors: “validity and accuracy”, “technical problems”, “types of questions and announcing the results”, “technique and simplicity”, “motivation and anxiety”, and “speed and error recording” that explain 60.88 percent of the total variance. Correlation results indicated no relationship between students’ attitudes and performance toward electronic examinations and academic achievement (r = 0.055, P-value = 0.432). There was a significant difference between male and female groups, BSc. and MSc. nursing and midwifery students, and semester of study. Conclusion: The tool for measuring students’ attitudes and performance towards electronic exams has acceptable validity and reliability. This tool can be used to assess online exams and improvement plans. © 2024 the Authors.