Establishing the Validity and Reliability of the Student Practice Evaluation Form-Revised (SPEF-R) in Occupational Therapy Practice Education: A Rasch Analysis.
This study investigated construct validity and internal consistency of the Student Practice Evaluation Form-Revised Edition Package (SPEF-R) which evaluates students' performance on practice education placements. The SPEF-R has 38 items covering eight domains, and each item is rated on a 5-point rating scale. Data from 125 students' final placement evaluations in their final year study were analyzed using the Rasch measurement model. The SPEF-R exhibited satisfactory rating scale performance and unidimensionality across the eight domains, providing construct validity evidence. Only 2 items misfit Rasch model's expectations (both related to students' performance with client groups, which were often rated as not observed). Additionally, the internal consistency of each SPEF-R domain was found to be excellent (Cronbach's α = .86 to .91) and all individual items had reasonable to excellent item-total correlation coefficients. The study results indicate that the SPEF-R can be used with confidence to evaluate students' performance during placements, but continued validation and refinement are required.
Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia s.rodger@uq.edu.au.
Sylvia
S
Rodger
Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Chi-Wen
CW
Chien
Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Merrill
M
Turpin
Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Jodie
J
Copley
Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Allison
A
Coleman
Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University-Peninsula Campus, Victoria, Australia.
Ted
T
Brown
Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Anne-Maree
AM
Caine
D003142:Communication; D004282:Documentation; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D024382:Professional Role; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
Rasch measurement model; SPEF-R; assessment; construct validity; instrumentation; internal consistency; occupational therapy; practice education