Mard Seyed Ali, Ghafouri Samireh
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
Adv Med Educ Pract. 2020 Sep 29;11:651-659. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S264120. eCollection 2020.
Medical education is a dynamic process, which needs to be improved to meet the new expectations of medical practitioners, health workers, and communities from different countries. An important part of medical students' education is to select an appropriate assessment method. In this regard, the objective structured practical examination (OSPE) can evaluate practical capabilities in a suitable step-wise, scientific, targeted and scheduled manner with direct consideration of student's performance during programmed test stations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the outcomes of the OSPE utilization versus traditional practical examination (TPE) for evaluating students in experimental physiology.
Totally, 120 medical students were chosen as the participants of this study: 1. TPE group (TPE used as a final exam; n=40); 2. TPE + OSPE group (TPE applied for half of topics and OSPE for another half; n=41); and 3. OSPE group (OSPE performed as a final exam; n=39). In order to evaluate the effect of OSPE, the average final grade of studied groups was compared. In addition, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire, consisting of 10 questions was used to evaluate the students' attitudes toward using this method.
The obtained results showed that the total grade in TPE group was significantly higher in comparison to TPE+OSPE and OSPE groups (respectively, P<0.01 and P<0.05), while according to students' expression, the average score for all of the items in feedback questionnaire was increased significantly in TPE+OSPE and OSPE groups compared with TPE group (P<0.001).
In summary, feedback from students showed that they were in favor of OSPE compared with the TPE, and according to their statements in a feedback questionnaire, OSPE can improve learning in physiology as well as increasing students' satisfaction.
医学教育是一个动态过程，需要不断改进以满足来自不同国家的医学从业者、卫生工作者和社区的新期望。医学生教育的一个重要部分是选择合适的评估方法。在这方面，客观结构化实践考试（OSPE）能够以合适的逐步、科学、有针对性和按计划的方式评估实践能力，同时直接考量学生在预设测试站的表现。本研究的目的是调查在实验生理学中使用OSPE与传统实践考试（TPE）评估学生的结果。
总共选择120名医学生作为本研究的参与者：1. TPE组（TPE用作期末考试；n = 40）；2. TPE + OSPE组（TPE用于一半的主题，OSPE用于另一半；n = 41）；3. OSPE组（OSPE作为期末考试；n = 39）。为了评估OSPE的效果，比较了各研究组的平均期末成绩。此外，使用一份由10个问题组成的5点李克特量表问卷来评估学生对使用该方法的态度。
所得结果表明，TPE组的总成绩与TPE + OSPE组和OSPE组相比显著更高（分别为P < 0.01和P < 0.05），而根据学生的表述，与TPE组相比，TPE + OSPE组和OSPE组反馈问卷中所有项目的平均得分显著提高（P < 0.001）。
总之，学生的反馈表明，与TPE相比，他们更喜欢OSPE，并且根据他们在反馈问卷中的表述，OSPE可以改善生理学学习并提高学生的满意度。
