Testing Service

Examination Development

While construction of classroom examinations and assessments is not universally considered to be "teaching," it is certainly an important cornerstone of teaching. This section highlights examination and performance assessment activities which indirectly support the teaching function.

Multiple Choice and Computer-Assisted Exams

Department faculty worked with clinical and basic science faculty as educational consultants in the development of examinations designed to be sensitive to course objectives. In addition, the Department continues to assist several faculty in the process of constructing computerized and categorized versions of their course's multiple-choice examination item pools. The desired outcome is improved examinations and greater faculty flexibility in meeting their testing needs.

The Online Patient Simulation Project

Online Patient Simulations (OPSs) are relatively complex representations of the clinical management process. They require an examinee or trainee to gather and synthesize information in a manner analogous to actual patient/physician interactions and to make patient-management decisions based upon the synthesized information. As such, OPSs are applicable for measuring student progress as clinicians and for training students in the necessary skills for managing complex clinical problems.

OPSs currently supported by the Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Education have been developed to parallel traditional Patient Management Problems (PMPs). PMPs allow for estimates of student proficiency and efficiency in working through a clinical decision making process. These OPSs are used to assess student performance in the third year Internal Medicine Clerkship.

The OPS project remains active and continues exploring the educational, psychometric, and technological questions raised by the use of online simulations for purposes of evaluation and training.