Running OSCE examinations is a huge endeavour, but by switching to eOSCEs these exams can be made a lot simpler. From initial creation and set up of an exam to the running of the exam itself, online exam software can take on those repetitive jobs for you and let you focus on more important tasks. Think of it like your trusty sidekick, there to give you a helping hand when you need it most.
By running OSCEs digitally there are lots of benefits to be reaped:
- Flexibility
- Security
- Ease of use
- Offline mode
- Minimal resources – no more paper mark sheets or scanning
- Quicker results and better feedback
No WIFI? No problem!
One of the factors that can put organisations off running OSCEs digitally is the concern that WIFI access during the exam may be limited. With digital exam software like Maxexam you don’t need to rely on WIFI as the only time a WIFI connection is needed is at the beginning of an exam so the paper can be downloaded onto the devices that are being used. Once the paper has been downloaded the exam can be run in ‘offline mode’ meaning the exam can run as normal without any need for a connection. Once the exam is over and done with you will just need to pick up some WIFI signal again so the exam can be submitted and marked.
No more manual checks
With eOSCEs you can wave goodbye to the manual checking processes that have to be carried out because a digital system can do those for you. Instead of checking and rechecking for any missing information on mark sheets and then scanning these mark sheets in for each station, a digital system will carry out these checks and flag up any issues to examiners straight away so examiners won’t be able to miss any questions by mistake.
Easy to use for examiners
Changing to a digital system doesn’t only benefit exam administrators but also benefits your examiners. Online exam software makes searching for candidates quick and simple and removes the fiddly process of searching through the paperwork to find the correct candidate. From our experience, we have found that even those examiners who aren’t familiar with using a tablet pick it up in minutes with a quick training session.
Security
By using a digital system, you can rest assured that all the marks and data are stored in one secure place and can only be accessed by those with the correct permissions. With paper OSCEs, you have the pressure of making sure you don’t lose track of any students mark sheet for a station. Digital exam software solves this problem by automatically recording marks straight into the system.
Quicker results and feedback
With online exam software, you can see how your students have performed as soon as the exam has finished. Instead of waiting weeks for your psychometrician to collate all the data and calculate statistics to allow post hoc analysis, you can have this information ready to use within a mouse click. And on top of this, you will have the ability to view lots of different types of feedback and reports which are generated at the same time as the results!
A big advantage of using a digital system is being able to give your students more detailed information regarding their marks. Online exam software like Maxexam makes it possible for exam managers and administrators to feedback why a student got the mark they did by viewing comments left by examiners during the exam. This means that the feedback that your students receive is more detailed and in turn a lot more useful.
Students hugely benefit from eOSCEs as they receive their feedback quicker than paper based OSCEs. This is because you don’t have to spend hours compiling spreadsheets and creating mail merges and double checking that you’ve got the right feedback being given to the right student. An online exam system like Maxexam can manage all of this all for you.
Complete audit trail
A great benefit of running eOSCEs is that there is access to a full audit trail of an exam. This means that if there are any disputes during an OSCE exam, the audit trail can be accessed and referred to when trying to resolve a dispute.
Running eOSCEs with online exam software can significantly reduce the time and resources spent on OSCEs and means you can spend more time on other important tasks. As well as allowing you to provide your students with more detailed individual feedback.
If you would like to have a quick chat about how Maxinity could help you on your journey to digital OSCEs fill in our contact form or call our office on 0117 428 0550 and speak to one of our team.
To see how Maxexam has improved OSCEs at The Royal College of Surgeons England take a look at our case study here.
