Methods of assessment

[caster]

Following on from a number of recent threads (and considering it is coming up for exam time in most universities), I was wondering what forms of examination and assessment are used in your university/medical school, and how effective you think these assessments are.

I personally think that good forms of assessment should enable students to discuss different aspects of a subject, and examine the evidence available for their answers. I very much dislike examinations which purely examine factual recall (eg MCQ examinations).

I think a good exam system would incorporate a critical literature review as a form of continuous assessment, and would have end-of-year exams consisting of a discursive essay (picked from a choice) and several compulsory short-notes questions where you write approximately one page of self-structured notes on a particular topic.

I also think that viva voce and OSCE examinations are a useful adjunct to the written examinations, examining students' ability to carry out practical procedures, and being able to explain subjects verbally (which is something they will need to do as qualified doctors).

What do you think? What would be your perfect exam system? What system would discriminate best between those who are competent to make good doctors, and those who need to repeat a year?

[ouzo]

i really enjoy a good multiple choice quiz.

[M Clayton]

I love OSCEs and viva voce examinations.

I've never seen the point of multiple guess but I also don't agree that essays should be such an important part of the system - I'd have done an English degree if I wanted to experiment with creative writing

[sherlock116]

We're examined by multi-choice, extended matching and short answer questions in first and second year with OSCE in later years also. As for which I prefer ask me next week when i'll have finished this years exams! eek.

[Cheeks]

What's the most effective or what's do I prefer? I think SAQs and OSCEs are the best assessments but I personally prefer EMQs and OSCEs. I think Vivas, essays and literature reviews are either too focused - get a topic you don't know well and you're screwed - or aren't done under an appropriate amount of pressure.

[caster]

I think Vivas, essays and literature reviews are either too focused - get a topic you don't know well and you're screwed.

I think vivas, essays and literature reviews are less focussed than MCQs, SAQs or OSCEs.

For an MCQ, SAQ or OSCE station, the examiners are looking for one specific answer about a particular aspect of a topic, whereas a viva, essay or literature review enable a student to discuss the aspects of a particular topic that he/she knows most about. An essay is more of a broad brush showing the candidate understands the basic principles and can put them together, whereas an MCQ tests whether candidates know specific factual details, without testing their overall understanding of the subject.

For example, an MCQ might say "penicillin molecule contains a beta-lactam ring [T/F]", or an SAQ might say "In what class of antimicrobial chemotherapy is penicillin?", whereas an essay might say "discuss the action and sensitivity of penicillins, and in what situations you would use them". For the essay, you could still pick up some marks (though admittedly not all) even if you couldn't answer the specific questions posed in the MCQs... obviously to get full marks, you would still need the same information, but if you were in the situation where you knew a little about penicillins, but not everything, you could still make a stab at an essay even if you couldn't answer a specific MCQ.

[Cheeks]

Sorry, I meant more focused over the whole examination; an essay on a single procedure/ condition/etc or an SAQ paper covering a range of subjects.

[caster]

That is true, an essay covers less different subject areas... That's why I think a perfect exam combines one essay with, say, 5 or 6 short notes questions, and maybe a few SAQs - that way you demonstrate that you have a breadth of understanding, whilst also answering shorter, more focussed questions, on a number of other topic areas.

For essays, you usually get a choice of one question from 3-4 possibilities, so you are not too stuck if there is one particular area where you don't know that much. However, short notes and SAQs are often compulsory, meaning that you do have to revise all areas of your syllabus, as you may have a smaller question on an area which isn't your best.

I think the best exam system combines different methods of assessment, to balance out the strengths and weaknesses of each individual examination format.

[simon_thompso11]

I can't believe that (at the time of writing) OSPE/OSCEs are winning this poll. They scare the hell out of me!

[Cheeks]

Given that they're the only method of assessment for clinical skills suggested is it any supprise? I'm reckoning that people are picking at least two methods in the poll - one practical and one or more academic.