This study investigates the use of the valid mean substitution (VMS) procedure in replacing missing data in attitude assessment. Using four scales from an actual field data set, the effectiveness of VMS was compared with the multiple regression replacement procedure. The study was designed such that data were missing completely at random under two research conditions: percentage of missing items in each scale (10, 30 and 50%); percentage of missing values in each item (10, 30 and 50%). The results indicated that both procedures are similarly effective in estimating the means and standard deviations of the scales. However, VMS is superior in estimating parameters.

The effect of item parameters (discrimination, difficulty, and level of guessing) on the item‐fit statistic was investigated using simulated dichotomous data. Nine tests were simulated using 1,000 persons, 50 items, three levels of item discrimination, three levels of item difficulty, and three levels of guessing. The item fit was estimated using two fit statistics: the likelihood ratio statistic (X2B), and the standardized residuals (SRs). All the item parameters were simulated to be normally distributed. Results showed that the levels of item discrimination and guessing affected the item‐fit values. As the level of item discrimination or guessing increased, item‐fit values increased and more items misfit the model. The level of item difficulty did not affect the item‐fit statistic.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of many factors on student evaluation of teaching.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyzed 3,185 student evaluations of faculty from a newly accredited business program at the United Arab Emirates University using univariate and multi‐analysis of variance (ANOVA and MANOVA).FindingsThe findings support previous research regarding the existence of potential biasing factors. The results indicate that expected grade, actual grade, course level, class size, course timing, student gender and course subject significantly affect student evaluation of teaching.Originality/valueComparing individual faculty ratings regardless of other factors might not be fair. Our findings support the call of other researchers that ignoring these other factors may bias or make questionable the validity of student evaluation of teaching as a means of performance appraisal of faculty. Because of the possible existence of biasing factors in SET, there is a need to supplement it with other measures of teaching effectiveness

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Test-taking strategies are important cognitive skills that strongly affect students' performance in tests. Using appropriate test-taking strategies improves students' achievement and grades, improves students' attitudes toward tests and reduces test anxiety. This results in improving test accuracy and validity. This study aimed at developing a scale to assess students' test-taking strategies at university level. The scale developed was passed through several validation procedures that included content, construct and criterion-related validity. Similarly, scale reliability (internal reliability and stability over time) was assessed through several procedures. Four samples of students (50, 828, 553 and 235) participated by responding to different versions of the scale. The scale developed consists of 31 items distributed into four sub-scales: Beforetest, Time management, During-test and After-test. To the researcher's knowledge, this is the first comprehensive scale developed to assess test-taking strategies used by university students.