Online System for Clinical Assessment - University of Edinburgh

The College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine's Learnign Technology Section at the University of Edinburgh developed the Online System for Clinical Assessment in-house. It was originally designed for some of the OCSEs (objective, structured, clinical examinations).

teh traditional OCSEs were very time and resource intensive requiring different stations for different clinical assessment with exams (extending over two days). The online evaluations could replace some of these stations and provide a secure setting for testing the same competencies and skills.

The case study state sthat the "drivers for adopting an online approach were:
1. to reduce the possibility for students collusion
2. to reduce costs of running OSCEs whch are extremely expensive
3. to provide a system-based standard for marking
4. to reduce the complex administration underpinning assessment processes
5. to address the growing sense that existing assessment structures were not capturing as accurate a picture of student ability as was possible."

The first cohort to use OSCA were given a mock exam to familiarize them with the system and also to test the system. Students are now shown a video to introduce them to the system.

Student feeedback is positive and they find the system interface and navigation is clear. The use of OSCA has reduced the resources needed to adniminister the exams with a reduction in staff time and physical space required. Becasue exams can be completed in two back-to-back sessions the chances of student collusion has been significantly reduced. There is a grwoign bank of questions for future use.

The training required by staff could be seen as a drawback especially if smaller institutions were to consider following this route. As the system is implemented more widely the need for more secure physical spaces suitable for onine exams could also be restrictive.

Once again the case study demonstrates the need for new technologies to be well funded and developed for specific needs in specific populations. The development process and training and support needed is significant. Once the technolgies have been fine-tuned and staff are comfortable with them there seems to be more interest in using them across the institutions.

E-portfolios in Nursing and Midwifery programs - University of Wolverhampton

At the Univesity of Wolverhampton eportfolios were introduced for the "family-friendly" nursing program. This program is designed for students who have school-aged children and take the program over an extended time period (4 years and 4 months instead of 3 years).



Reasons for adopting the eportfolio included:

• the need to be able to evidence off-site study time


• encouraging online communities of practice


• students could create personal learning spaces

As in the previous case study, the eportfolio system was created in-house (PebblePad which has since become a commercial company) and designed to meet the learners need. The eportfolio seems to be particularly appropriate in healthcare settings where it allows for reflective practice and the sharing of ideas with other practitioners.

Once again training and support for both faculty and students play a key role in the successful adoption of the technology. Sample portfolios were provided to students and they were helped in a step by step manner to learn how to use the software.

There was concern about students IT skills but even those students who were new to using computers seem to have become advocates of online communities of practice.

No measurable benefits have been demonstarted but student feedback was positive and faculty reported feeling that they knew their students better through the eportfolios and were able to recognize problems and difficulties in clinical placements more quickly and respond accordingly.

One of the comments I fouund most interesting was that the eportfolios allowed students a continuity of learning because they could continue to work on their eportfolios whilst they were being evaluated. This in contrast with the finite nature of paper-based assignments and evaluations and the wait for them to be returned.