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Strategies for Controlled Delivery of Proctored Online Exams in Anatomical Sciences
Author(s) -
Bacro Thierry R,
Bernanke David,
Fitzharris Tim
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a433
Subject(s) - presentation (obstetrics) , context (archaeology) , medical education , formative assessment , summative assessment , protocol (science) , computer science , curriculum , multimedia , medicine , psychology , mathematics education , pathology , radiology , pedagogy , paleontology , alternative medicine , biology
The Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy (CBA) hosts the anatomy and histology courses for the medical and dental first year students at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Over the last few years, the faculty has integrated educational technology in the teaching of these courses by using a course management system (CMS) called WebCT to allow students to access web‐based resources and to effectively communicate with the students. This CMS has also been used to deliver formative and summative exams in these courses. A rigorous protocol has evolved over the years to take advantage of the powerful capabilities of this CMS but to also ensure that the exams are taken in a controlled environment that promotes the respect of the MUSC Code of Honor and protect the intellectual property copyrights of the exam questions written by faculty. During this presentation, the essential features of the exam module of the CMS used will be presented. The strategies that are used before, during and after the delivery of the exams to guarantee proper delivery will be discussed. The discussion will include the details of the proctoring of the exam by the faculty to foster appropriate behavior as well as the controlled approach used to allow the students to review their own exam without compromising the integrity of the questions. The advantages and disadvantages of online testing will be discussed in the current context of the gross anatomy faculty shortage nationwide and recommendations will be made regarding further use of online testing in medical curricula.