Assessment of Birjand Medical School studentsattitudes toward the criteria of academic evaluation in 2009

Academic evaluation is one of the strategies applied for the enhancement of teaching conditions. Student-based evaluation is one of the most common kinds of evaluation. The current study is aimed at the identification of important criteria of academic evaluation from the viewpoint of medical school students. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The society consists of all the students of Birjand medical school in the academic year 2009-2010 (n=200), according to the census carried out in this regard). The assessment tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that consists of 55 questions in 6 fields of teaching skills, personal characteristics, communicational skills, evaluation skills, clinical skills, and also observing rules and principles. The data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive-analytic statistics. In the category of teaching skills the highest priority in evaluating professors was reported for verbal skills and the ability to get the lessons through (88.5%). In the category of personal characteristics, being well-dressed and polite (58.5%), in the category of communicational skills, fairness to all (68.5%), in the category of considering rules and principles, delivering comprehensive pamphlets for related studying materials and observing start and end time of the classes (34%), and in the category of evaluation skills, the suitability of academic evaluation for studying materials (48.5%) had the highest priorities. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between the gender of students and the personal characteristics of professors and was significant relationship between the degree with category of evaluation skills (P<0.05). Although students can well realize the most important criteria of academic evaluation, they don’t prioritize all characteristics that make a professor scientifically qualified for his profession. This can reduce the validity and reliability of academic evaluation.