PRE-WORKSHOP
Electronic exams: Moving from Paper-pencil to Computer-based Exams in a Painless and Constructive Manner
Scott Elliott, University of Iowa, College of Medicine, OCRME, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Lecture/Demo. Half Day. Limited to 15-20. For any interested, no prerequisites.
ABSTRACT:
Computer-based testing within medical curricula has been hampered in the past by inefficient development tools, lack of organized databases, shortage of proper computer workstations, and an ineffective infrastructure. Through the proliferation of affordable laptop and desktop computers and better development tools, computer-based testing has evolved and is expanding within medical schools. The challenges of computer-based testing are many. Transferring existing paper-pencil exam items to a computer-based format that is reliable and secure is a major concern.
Along with that, setting-up and maintaining an exam center with the proper number of workstations, sufficient space, and using a hard-wired (LAN) or wireless system are major questions to be answered. Other questions of importance are: What is needed from the IT support staff to make the system work? What software will be used to deliver the exams? Is a web-based system secure enough or do you need a private Local Area Network (LAN)? What kind of database technology is needed? How will item analysis get done and who will do it? What are the implications of computer adaptive testing?
The University of Iowa College of Medicine has 10 years of experience and research in computer-based testing. Computer-based testing at Iowa has incorporated a variety of styles of questions as well as multimedia to facilitate integration and clinical problem solving. . Computer-based technology is allowing timelier student assessment and feedback. Faculty has become more creative with question designs and use of multimedia to enrich the experience. Exam reliability, difficulty and discrimination values have improved due to the use of our database and statistical reporting technologies. Studies have been undertaken concerning answer changing, question timing and objective student evaluations. We would like to share our experiences in an interactive half-day workshop in order to help other medical schools minimize frustration and maximize their productivity.
BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:
The benefits of this workshop include
1) Sharing experiences from several institutions that have been using computer-based testing
2) Discuss the benefits of Itembanking (database) in order to aid the process of test development
3) Inform participants about the issues involved (resources, administration, security, reporting) in computer-based testing;
4) Teach participants the value of item analysis and how to improve test questions based on item analysis output.
Scott Elliott
OCRME
The University of Iowa
College of Medicine
1-204 MEB
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone: 319-335-8918
Fax: 319-335-8904
Email: scott-elliott@uiowa.edu
Website: http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/ocrme/curriculum/cur_computers.html
CO-AUTHORS:
Joel Gordon, MD
The University of Iowa
Department of Internal Medicine
E-300GH
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone: 319-356-3972
Fax: 319-335-8904
Email: joel-gordon@uiowa.edu
Website: http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/ocrme/curriculum/cur_computers.html