Abstract
Objectives: To investigate and compare the views of undergraduate pharmacy students in two Malaysian pharmacy schools (one private and one public) regarding the organization, quality, and objectivity of OSCE.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among penultimate and final year students in two Malaysian pharmacy schools between October and December 2019. A questionnaire was developed, tested, and validated and then distributed to study participants through online Google forms.
Results: A total of 221 undergraduate pharmacy students participated in the study. Regarding the adequacy of the time allocated per OSCE station, students of the public university expressed a relatively higher level of disagreement (IIUM 63.9% & 48.7% vs. UoC 11.6% & 14.3%). Relatively few students agreed that OSCE is a less stressful type of assessment compared to other traditional methods (IIUM 7.2% & 10.3% vs. UoC 39.5% & 23.8%). Regarding the OSCE scores as valid indicators of student’s skills, private university students had more agreement than their counterparts in a public university (UoC 79% & 64.3% vs. IIUM 39.2% 30.8%). In addition, both student groups disagreed that OSCE marks were likely to be affected by the student’s gender (IIUM 73.2% & 66.7% vs. UoC 67.4% & 78.6%).
Conclusion: Overall, most of the participants had overall good views regarding the organization, quality, and objectivity of OSCE, with several differences between students in public and private universities. There are few areas to be further considered to ensure more positive students’ OSCE experience such as revision on the time allocation for every station and on the provision of timely constructive feedback.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among penultimate and final year students in two Malaysian pharmacy schools between October and December 2019. A questionnaire was developed, tested, and validated and then distributed to study participants through online Google forms.
Results: A total of 221 undergraduate pharmacy students participated in the study. Regarding the adequacy of the time allocated per OSCE station, students of the public university expressed a relatively higher level of disagreement (IIUM 63.9% & 48.7% vs. UoC 11.6% & 14.3%). Relatively few students agreed that OSCE is a less stressful type of assessment compared to other traditional methods (IIUM 7.2% & 10.3% vs. UoC 39.5% & 23.8%). Regarding the OSCE scores as valid indicators of student’s skills, private university students had more agreement than their counterparts in a public university (UoC 79% & 64.3% vs. IIUM 39.2% 30.8%). In addition, both student groups disagreed that OSCE marks were likely to be affected by the student’s gender (IIUM 73.2% & 66.7% vs. UoC 67.4% & 78.6%).
Conclusion: Overall, most of the participants had overall good views regarding the organization, quality, and objectivity of OSCE, with several differences between students in public and private universities. There are few areas to be further considered to ensure more positive students’ OSCE experience such as revision on the time allocation for every station and on the provision of timely constructive feedback.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 19 Aug 2020 |
