Development and psychometric properties of the Student Evaluation of Dissertation Tutoring Scale (SEDITUS) in higher education

Academic dissertation tutoring has become an important academic teaching competence in higher education. However, no assessment instrument has been developed to measure the needed transversal competences in quality tutoring. In two studies, we aim to develop and explore the psychometric properties of the Student Evaluation of Dissertation Tutoring Scale (SEDITUS). In Study 1 (N = 82, 72% women), the initial eight items proposed a unidimensional construct and good fit properties to the Polytomous Rasch model. Differential item functioning (DIF) revealed no significant differences across gender for all the items, and the four-category structure did function well. In Study 2 (N = 1046, 69% women), an expert committee decided to remove one item due to the lack of a generalization process for the item across faculty degrees. A multilevel Rasch model was used to consider the nested nature of the data (students nested in eight faculties). Results replicated Study 1, with the scale showing appropriate psychometric properties at the item and global level. Overall, the two studies suggest the SEDITUS can be recommended as a rapid assessment of the tutoring process in dissertations developed both in undergraduate and master's degrees.