Characteristics of effective exams-Development and validation of an instrument for evaluating written exams

Students' feedback is common in teaching evaluation, but there is no documented instrument enabling instructors to systematically gather relevant student feedback on written exams in higher education. Three studies are described to develop a valid instrument for evaluating written exams. Study 1 analyzes characteristics of effective written exams from the perspective of students and instructors, using qualitative content-analysis. This informs study 2, which analyzes and revises the structure of a questionnaire via exploratory factor analysis. In study 3, confirmatory factor analysis and cross-validation are conducted to confirm the structure found in study 2. Central factors are “Transparency”, “Composition of the exam” and “Students' workload”. Students' feedback as assessed by this questionnaire provides reliable feedback to improve the quality of exams.