Examining the Optimal Length of SET Forms: Lessons from the Iranian Higher Education
نویسندگان
1 PhD Student, Department of English Language & Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of English Language & Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran
doi
10.22034/ijce.2025.528182.1660چکیده
Universities and institutions of higher education increasingly rely on student evaluations of teaching (SET) to enhance both institutional and educational quality. SETs are commonly implemented worldwide using standardized survey instruments. These instruments are meticulously constructed to align with validated indicators of instructional effectiveness and the professional competencies integral to the teaching vocation. Comparative analyses of evaluation instruments across leading universities indicate significant convergence in assessment criteria, yet the optimal length of SET forms remains underexplored. Analyzing approximately 27,000 student surveys at the tertiary level, this study identifies the ideal number of SET items through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, leading to the design of five short-form scales for evaluation of teaching. Statistical comparisons, including linear regression and means tests, demonstrate that two of these concise forms yield estimates of instructors’ overall mean scores comparable to those derived from full-length evaluations. These findings suggest that streamlined SET instruments—consisting of four to five rigorously-validated items—can maintain methodological integrity while enhancing student attentiveness as well as improving psychometric properties, thereby ensuring greater reliability and validity in faculty evaluations.
