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This guide will help take you through the very basics of how to a set up a simple OSCE exam in Practique. This covers only the barest minimum tasks to set up an exam. It covers how to do things, but not why. For best practice, there are many additional things you may want to look into, such as dimensions or constraints, which are ways to categorise exams and questions. The guide will take you through the following steps:

  1. Set up your blueprint
  2. Create your OSCE stations (in Items)
  3. Combine OSCE stations into an Exam (in Item Sets)
  4. Schedule your Exam
  5. Start Exam
  6. Deliver Exam


  1. Log into Practique. 


  2. Once logged into Practique, you will see the tab bar at the top:

Each tab means as follows: 

  • Dashboard: where your current exams show
  • Blueprints: the framework of the exam
  • Items: the questions or stations
  • Item Sets: the papers or collections of stations that make up a particular exam
  • Exams: where you create the exams; details including date, time, standard setting to be used etc.
  • Resources: where you upload documents used for each station e.g. Examiner info pack, actor briefing notes, student briefing. It can include documents, images, videos etc.
  • Reports: where you find reports on completed exams. Note: not covered in this basic tutorial
  • Help: access to Knowledge Base to get further help, Services Desk to report problems or bugs, Practique HQ for updates about Practique Note: not covered in this basic tutorial
  • Settings: access to user management, device management, OSCE global marking settings and candidates & examiners management


3. Blueprints

This is how you can define the information about the structure of the exam.

  1. Click on the blueprints tab.
  2. Click on

The next screen you see is the create exam blueprint page. The first three boxes are relatively self explanatory.

  1. Give the exam a name (remember it, you’ll need it later!)
  2. For exam type, choose ‘OSCE’
  3. Exam size is the number of different questions or stations you need.  For now, enter 2.

 

The remaining 4 questions are optional. For now, we will leave them blank. But explanations have been provided below.

 

  1. Exam venue capacity - This is the number of candidates per circuit. Include rest stations in this number.
  2. Block – Is the number of sets of questions used in a day. If 1 set of questions is being used all day it would be 1 block, if 2 sets of questions are being used it would be 2 blocks.
  3. Session – Is the number of times the exam repeats itself in a day.
  4. Circuit – this is the number of simultaneous exams (rotations) running, for example, if using two rooms of 10 stations each, with each candidate taking 10 stations you would enter 2.

 

 

  1. Click on

You are now taken to a screen to edit constraints for your exam. Constraints are limitations on the structure of the exam. This would be needed if you wanted to allow the questions to be automatically selected from a bank of questions. We won’t look at these for now.

  1. Click

 

Items

This is how you create stations.

  1. Click on the items tab
  2. Click on

The next screen creates the outline of the item.

  1. In ‘Item Title’ enter a name for your question
  2. For ‘Item Type’ choose ‘OSCE Station’
  3. Click

The next screen lets you enter information about the station useful for record keeping. You can enter details such as patient name and age and a summary of what the station involves e.g. History examination and blood results. We won’t change any for now.

  1. Press

The next screen shows a new set of tabs:


  • Item Information: The information you just entered and versioning
  • Item Resources:  Add images, examiner info documents, actor briefings, student briefings, videos etc. to a station
  • Blueprinting: Add ‘dimensions’ for automatic generation of exams
  • Marksheet: Here you specify what questions the examiners should answer and how. You are creating the mark sheet.
  • Item overview: Summary of the station
  • Item Performance: Shows reports of how the station has performed in previous exams

 

  1. Go to the item resources Tab

Here you can upload any images or information packs you want to be visible on the ipad.

  1. Click
  2. In resource type, choose ‘Examiner Notes’.
  3. Press  and select the provided PDF of examiner notes.
  4. Press
  5. Click  on the Marksheet Tab
  6. Click

You should get a popup allowing you to enter the question information.

  1. In section, choose ‘Marks’ – the section is the heading it will appear under.
  2. In text, type the question to be answered, for example: “How well did the candidate perform?”

The type selection shows the ways in which the question can be answered, the ones you are likely to use are:

  • Discrete: Select from a choice of values, e.g. 1, 2, 3 or good, ok, poor.
  • Free text: A box in which to type whatever you like.
  1. For now, choose ‘Free Text’
  2. In ‘Weight’ type 0
  3. Make sure ‘Mandatory’ is not ticked.

Weight indicates how much a question is worth relatively for automatic marking. 0 means the result has no bearing. 1 Would be a normal marking, 2 would be worth double etc. Having mandatory unchecked means the examiner does not have to fill in the question.

  1. Press

However, what if we wanted a ‘Pass’ ‘Borderline’ ‘Fail’ option for the question?

  1. At the very top of the page, choose ‘Settings’ tab, then ‘Manage Schemas’

The schema page allows you to make custom mark types for questions.

  1. Type a name into the ‘Add a new schema’ box and press
  2. Find the name you typed in the above list and press

Now you can see the list of answers you can select for this question.

  1. In Title, type ‘Pass’ – This is the name that appears on the screen
  2. In Value, type 2 – These are the points awarded to the candidate if the examiner chooses that answer.
  3. Press
  4. Repeat this process for ‘Borderline’ – 1 and ‘Fail’ – 0

Now we can go back to our station.

  1. Click the ‘Item’s tab again
  2. Find your earlier station and press
  3. Click on the ‘Marksheet’ tab
  4. Repeat the process for making a question, but when it comes to Type, choose ‘Discrete’
  5. A new ‘Schema’ box will appear. Choose the name you gave to your schema.
  6. In weight, type 1
  7. Tick ‘Mandatory’ and then

Now we need to submit the station. We won’t be sending this question for review, we will approve it immediately:

  1. Press
  2. Leave the options as-is and press
  3. Press
  4. Press

Congratulations, that station is ready to go. Try repeating the whole process to make a second station. Give it a different name and questions.

 

Item Sets

In the item sets tab, you will be able to combine stations into an exam, or questions into a paper.

  1. Click on the item sets tab

You are now presented with the ‘Create an item set’ screen.

  1. In ‘Exam Blueprint’ select the name you gave to your OSCE at the beginning
  2. In ‘Add Items Automatically’ choose No
  3. Press

In this screen, you can now add the stations to your OSCE.

  1. Click

In the following page you can see all the stations created.

  1. Find the two stations you have made and for each one, click
  2. Press

The item set is now complete, as it only requires two stations, as we set in the earlier blueprint.

It is important that you make sure the stations are in the order that you want them to be in, the system will automatically decide for you which is station 1, 2 and 3 etc.

You need to move the stations until they are in the correct order by dragging and dropping them.

Now we need to approve the set.

  1. Press
  2. Leave the boxes blank and press
  3. Press
  4. Press

 

Exams       

In the exam screen, you will set up the detailed exam information such as rotations, examiners and students.

  1. Press  
  2. In ‘Number of Days’ enter 1 (if you had 3 days of exams you would enter 3 here)
  3. In ‘Exam Blueprint’ select the exam you made earlier
  4. In ‘Exam Venue Capacity’ enter 2 (this is the number of students a circuit can take including rests)
  5. In ‘Number of Blocks’ enter 1 –If you use a different set of questions in the AM and PM you would enter 2
  6. In ‘Number of Sessions’ enter 1 – This is the number of sessions that happen in each block or day. For example, if there are three sessions before lunch and three after and you are using the same the questions all day (1 block) you would enter 6. If you had 2 blocks (different set of questions in the morning and afternoon, you would enter 3.
  7. In ‘Number of Circuits’ enter 1 – this is the number of simultaneous exams (rotations) running, for example, if using two rooms of 10 stations each, with each candidate taking 10 stations you would enter 2.
  8. Leave ‘Standard Setting Method’ as Angoff and ‘Randomize Questions’ as No
  9. Press

Now the exam has been created you will be taken to a screen that shows an overview of what should be completed to fill in the detail.

  1. Under ‘Candidates’ press
  2. In ‘The first date in this exam will be’ select today’s date.
  3. Press

Now the Candidates bar is half filled in, and an item set is available.

  1. Press
  2. The item set may have already been selected, if so, skip to number 17. If not, press  on any existing item sets.
  3. Press
  4. Find your item set and press
  5. Press

The item set bar is now complete.

  1. Under item sets, press
  2. Press
  3. Under Candidates, press

This screen will let you upload students. You can either assign them manually from students created previously or upload a whole allocation from excel, which we will do here. The excel book in this tutorial will be provided, but the format required is:

  • ID – The students university number
  • Last Name
  • First Name
  • Block – The full date, then a dash, then the block of the exam. E.g. “30 November 2016 – 1”
  • Session – The Session for the student, e.g. “Session 1”
  • Room – The station number the student starts at, e.g. “2”
  • Circuit – The number of the rotation the student has been allocated to e.g. “1”
  1. Press
  2. Under ‘Upload CSV/XLS file’ Press
  3. Select the provided excel book ‘Candidates Upload format’
  4. Press
  5. Under Candidates, press
  6. Press

Now we will input the examiners, marshals (invigilators) and who they are marking.

  1. Under ‘Examiners’ Press

Like the students, we could do this manually, but here we will use the excel upload. The book will be provided for the tutorial, but the format required is:

  • ID – an identifier for the examiner. You could use their GMC number or whatever you decide, but each examiner should keep the same ID between exams so it is worth agreeing a format beforehand
  • First Name
  • Surname
  • Block – The full date, then a dash, then the block of the exam. E.g. “30 November 2016 – 1”
  • Session – The Session for the examiner, e.g. “Session 1”
  • Room – The station the examiner occupies, e.g. 3 (should be blank for marshals)
  • Circuit – The number of the rotation the examiner is on e.g. “1”
  • Role – Examiner or Marshall, should be “E” or “M”

 

  1. Press
  2. Under ‘Upload CSV/XLS file’ Press
  3. Select the provided excel book “Examiner Upload Format”
  4. Press
  5. Press

Now we confirm the allocation looks OK.

  1. Press
  2. Under Examiners, press
  3. Press

You could also allocate role players for our OSCE if you maintain a list of them, but you don’t need to, so we’ll skip that step.

  1. Under Role Players, press
  2. Press

Our Exam is now made and ready to go! Let’s try it out.

Starting Exams  

  1. Click the Exams tab
  2. Find your exam, and click on
  3. Click on ‘View Sessions’
  4. Press

The exam will be loaded on to devices.  This should be done the night before at the latest. When you are ready, start the session:

  1. Click on the ‘Dashboard’ tab
  2. Find your exam and press

The exam is ready to start. For examiners and marshals (invigilators) to log in, they use their ID, prefaced with the letter on this screen listed under ‘Pin / Exam Letter’. Give this a try and enter marks with your examiners.

Once you have finished the exam, you will need to close off the sessions

  1. Press
  2. Press

Your exam is now complete! Results are available in the ‘Exams’ section, by pressing

 

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