Development, Validation and Reliability of an Open Book Examination Perception Questionnaire-I: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Open Book Examinations (OBEs) are being employed in education, presenting unique opportunities, and challenges to both learners and educators. However, the perception and implication of learning experience remains unanswered. Aim: To assess the content and face validity and reliability of a pretest Open Book Examination Perception Questionnaire-I (OBEQ-I). Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in four phases at KLE College of Physiotherapy, Hubballi, Karnataka, India, from July 2024 to July 2025. The first phase included extensive review of literature and forming the first set of questions (n=24). In the second phase, the questionnaire was shared through a Google form with nine validators and their responses on relevance, content, domain specificity, and suggestions were collected. Based on the recommendations, some questions were deleted/reframed (n=6). The third phase comprised of sharing the revised questionnaire with 18 questions through a Google form with 36 physiotherapy students for rating the items for comprehension and clarity. In the fourth phase, Content Validity Index (CVI) for Item level Content Validity (I-CVI) and Scale Level Content Validity (S-CVI/Ave), Face Validity Index Per Item Wise (I-FVI) and scale wise (S-FVI), and reliability were calculated. Results: I-CVI for relevance of all items scored 1, except item numbers 7, 11, 14, and 20, which scored 0.88. S-CVI/Ave for relevance was 0.88. I-CVI for content was 1 for all items except item 14, which scored 0.88. S-CVI/Ave for content was 0.99. I-FVI scores for comprehension ranged from 1 to 0.8 and S-FVI/Ave for comprehension was 0.97. I-FVI for clarity ranged between 1 to 0.9 and the S-FVI/Ave score was 0.98. Conclusion: The 18-item pretest OBEQ-1 revealed an appropriate level of content and face validity based on I-CVI, S-CVI/Ave, I-FVI, S-FVI/Ave scores and suggested an impactful consideration following the analysis of reliability of scale.