Differential Item Functioning in Students Rating of Teaching Effectiveness Surveys in Higher Education According to Academic Disciplines: Data from a Saudi University

This study explored academic discipline as a source of differential item functioning(DIF) in students’ rating of teaching quality and effectiveness at higher educationinstitutions. Data utilized in this study was collected by Imam Abudalruman BinFaisal University - KSA. The total number of surveys analyzed for the purpose of thisstudy is 36459 from three colleges: Education, Health, and Engineering. Using ExtendedRasch model (Rating Scale Model), the results show that the instrument containsfour DIF items. The content of these four items confirm the possibility of consideringdiscipline as a source of DIF items in students evaluation of teaching in higher education.Moreover, the results of the current study show that removing DIF items from theinstrument increases construct validity.