Iranian Measure of Operating Theatre Educational Climate (IMOTEC): Validity and Reliability Study

 In modern medical education, the emphasis on student-centered learning and task-based learning has made the role of a learning environment more highlighted. In curriculum development, aligning educational objectives, teaching methods, and assessment methods with the educational environment is emphasized. In the process of evaluating curriculum components, along with the assessment of the other parts, assessing the educational environment through a valid and reliable tool is essential.

 The purpose of this study was to develop a psychometric and localized version of the Surgical Theatre Educational Environment Measure (STEEM) tool for surgical technologists in Iran.

 The present study was a descriptive and analytical study that was conducted cross-sectionally in 2021. After obtaining permission from the developer of the standard questionnaire, following the principles of localization, the stages of translation and
re-translation of the STEEM tool were done. The validity of its face and content was then assessed. In order to determine construct validity, the questionnaire was distributed among 201 surgical technology students. The construct validity of the instrument and its reliability was investigated using exploratory factor analysis, and Cronbach's alpha and intra-cluster correlation coefficient, respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19.

 The study of face, content, and construct validity resulted in providing a STEEM questionnaire with 5 subscales and 30 questions covering 55.6% of the total variance. The reliability of the whole questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.845.

 Based on the findings of this study, the Iranian version of STEEM, entitled Iranian Measure of Operating Theatre Educational Climate (IMOTEC) has appropriate validity and reliability, and can effectively measure operating theatre educational climate from the perspective of undergraduate surgical technology students.