Developing a teacher evaluation checklist for Payame Noor University

Mousavi, Malihe
Payame Noor University
Iran

In general, teachers make a strong contribution to the learning outcome of students. Payame Noor University (PNU), a pioneer of distance learning in Iran, has used an evaluation checklist developed by the Ministry of Education for traditional universities — a very different system from distance education. The present study aims at designing an evaluation checklist which takes into account the characteristics of distance education universities, including factors such as the use of technology, time limitations, an interactive method of teaching, problem-solving skills and the questioning skill of teachers. To assess the content validity of the checklist and the appropriateness of the items, it was distributed to 35 PNU professors and 63 students at BA, MA and PhD levels. As a result of the feedback, some of the questions were revised and another part on the percentage of students attending the problem-solving classes was added. It should be noted that the ultimate goal of the present evaluation checklist is to make PNU teachers more aware of the distance education system and change their academic behaviour since there is scant attention at PNU to in-service teacher training courses.