Establishing the face validity of the criteria of teaching competence in the Leicester package for the assessment of teaching skills (L-PAST) for tutor-led, task-orientated small-group teaching

Testing the face validity of criteria of teaching competence, developed for the Leicester package for the assessment of teaching skills (L-PAST) for tutor-led task-orientated small-group teaching, involved a postal questionnaire sent to a sample of medical members of the Association of University Departments of General Practice. Their views on the six categories and 39 components of competence contained in L-PAST were sought on a six-point Likert scale. The survey population was given the opportunity to reject or suggest new categories or components or to reallocate components to other categories. There was minimal support for excluding any categories or components or for moving any components to different categories. The components which failed to reach the 70% approval threshold came predominantly from the category 'structuring teaching'. The L-PAST has been modified accordingly. Student opinion was also sought on the suggested L-PAST categories and their component competences. In general, students and teachers had similar views about the overall categories and components of teaching competence except for one category ('monitoring the overall learning environment') which was rated significantly less important (p < 0.001) by the students.