Evaluation of the Online Course of the Family Medicine Research Seminar: Construct validity

Abstract

Objective: To determine the construct validity of a questionnaire to evaluate the virtual learning environment of the online course of the Family Medicine Research Seminar. Methods: Cross-sectional, observational, exploratory multivariate study. 110 students participated during six academic cycles of the Family Medicine Research Seminar course. A virtual classroom was designed in a Moodle environment; a questionnaire with 37 Likert-type questions and semantic differential was applied to evaluate the virtual environment of the course. Factor analysis was used to determine the construct validity of the questionnaire. Student participation was voluntary, anonymous and in accordance with the norms, recommendations and ethical guidelines in educational research. Results: The variance explained by the model was 80.03% with varimax factor rotation; the determinant of the multiple correlation matrix and Bartlett’s sphericity test were significant (p < 0.0001); the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Index value was 0.613; eight factors were retained and Cronbach’s alpha reliability was 0.87. Conclusions: The construct validity of the questionnaire to evaluate the virtual learning environment of the online course of the research seminar was determined. Seven criteria of the factor analysis exceeded the minimum expected reference values. The global evaluation of the construct validity model was adequate.