The Journal of Medical Education and Development

Introduction: Student evaluation is considered as one of the most important principles of educational planning. An effective evaluation not only plays an important role in discriminating among students, but also helps the instructor assess his own activities. Additionally, a suitable strategy for solving the problems of the educational program may be provided on the basis of evaluation. For this purpose, the method of students' evaluation by faculty members and educational staff was studied in Shar-e-Kord University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 1386-87.

Method: This descriptive study was conducted on a total of 122 subjects derived from all the faculty members and educational staff at Shahr-e-Kord University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 1386-87. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect the required data. The validity of the questionnaire was established using expert opinion, and its reliability (r = .79) was approved by test-retest. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics (mean, SD), and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient) using the SPSS (p-value < 0.05).

Results : The research findings showed that to evaluate students, 69.4 % of the educational units under study used the formative and summative tests, 16.2 % used just summative tests, and 14.4 % used pretest, diagnostic tests, formative tests, and summative tests. The most frequently used test formats were written tests and MCQs (multiple choice questions). Also, 88.3% of the studied units considered the summative exam as the most important evaluation criteria. Only 44.2% of the subjects used a lesson plan in their presentation and teaching, and 38.2% gave a midterm exam. There was a statistically significant correlation between the variables of "giving a midterm exam" and "the mean number of college credits taught", i.e., those who taught more credits, also gave more midterm exams (p-value < 0.05).

Conclusion : The teaching method most frequently used by the faculty members and educational staff was the lecturing or frontal method along with question and answer activities. Less than 50% of the subjects used a lesson plan and midterm exam. The most important student evaluation criteria were the final exam, active class participation, and class attendance, respectively. The most frequently used evaluation methods were formative and summative exams. Test development was usually done before the exam and included MCQs. So, it is advisable that teachers and instructors use lesson plan, midterm exams, and deciding on and announcing test format in their lesson plans.