Table 1
Distribution of test conditions and student participation across the five medical schools during four assessments in the indicated months in the academic year 2020–2021.
| CONDITION/MONTH OF TEST ADMINISTRATION | SEPTEMBER | DECEMBER | FEBRUARY | MAY | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCHOOL 1 | |||||
| Formative Computer-based At-home test | 1704 | 1719 | 1121 | 1112 | 5656 |
| Summative Paper-based Exam venue | 80 | 61 | 93 | 122 | 356 |
| Summative Computer-based Exam venue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Summative Computer-based At-home test Remote online proctoring | 4 | 1 | 533 | 467 | 1005 |
| total | 1788 | 1781 | 1747 | 1701 | 7017 |
| SCHOOL 2 | |||||
| Formative Computer-based At-home test | 1422 | 1124 | 1119 | 1114 | 4779 |
| Summative Paper-based Exam venue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Summative Computer-based Exam venue | 283 | 69 | 75 | 516 | 943 |
| Summative Computer-based At-home test Remote online proctoring | 12 | 536 | 528 | 25 | 1101 |
| total | 1717 | 1729 | 1722 | 1655 | 6823 |
| SCHOOL 3 | |||||
| Formative Computer-based At-home test | 1683 | 1655 | 1454 | 1666 | 6458 |
| Summative Paper-based Exam venue | 285 | 276 | 420 | 196 | 1177 |
| Summative Computer-based Exam venue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Summative Computer-based At-home test Remote online proctoring | 29 | 25 | 31 | 4 | 89 |
| total | 1997 | 1956 | 1905 | 1866 | 7724 |
| SCHOOL 4 | |||||
| Formative Computer-based At-home test | 1759 | 584 | 875 | 586 | 3804 |
| Condition/Month of test administration | September | December | February | May | Total |
| Summative Paper-based Exam venue | 168 | 1287 | 952 | 1212 | 3619 |
| Summative Computer-based Exam venue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Summative Computer-based At-home test Remote online proctoring | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| total | 1927 | 1871 | 1827 | 1798 | 7423 |
| SCHOOL 5 | |||||
| Formative Computer-based At-home test | 855 | 676 | 639 | 624 | 2794 |
| Summative Paper-based Exam venue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Summative Computer-based Exam venue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Summative Computer-based At-home test Remote online proctoring | 114 | 327 | 705 | 712 | 1858 |
| total | 969 | 1003 | 1344 | 1336 | 4652 |
| TOTAL | |||||
| Formative Computer-based At-home test | 7423 | 5758 | 5208 | 5102 | 23491 |
| Summative Paper-based Exam venue | 533 | 1624 | 1465 | 1530 | 5152 |
| Summative Computer-based Exam venue | 283 | 69 | 75 | 516 | 943 |
| Summative Computer-based Remote online proctoring | 159 | 889 | 1797 | 1208 | 4053 |
| total | 8398 | 8340 | 8545 | 8356 | 33639 |
Figure 1
Time spent on the September computer-based test. In the bachelor’s curriculum, age groups are synchronized (1, 5, and 9), while in the master’s curriculum, all curricular age groups are represented (13–24). Y-axis: number of students; X-axis: time spent on the progress test (in minutes). Curricular age groups are distinguished by colour coding. A small number of students with physical or mental challenges were granted additional time beyond the standard 240-minute limit by the boards of examiners of their medical school. See text for further details.
Figure 2
Time spent on formative assessments (FORM, in blue, 9371 students), summative computer-based assessments (SUM in orange, 300 students), and summative paper-based assessments (SUMP in yellow, 163 students), all from curricular age group 1. Y-axis: number of students; X-axis: time spent on the progress test (in minutes). Extended time was granted for a small number of students with physical or mental challenges by the boards of examiners of their medical school. See text for additional details.
Figure 3
Distribution of individual student scores per curricular age group on formative (FORM blue) and summative (SUM, orange) progress tests. All scores of all tests between in academic year 2020–2021 of 5 universities are included. Their z scores were computed and the outliers (z > 3 and z < –3) removed. Every dot represents one student. Superimposed box-plots summarize the data. The median value is indicated as well as the first and third quartile and the 5th and 95th percentile. See text for details.
Figure 4
Pooled z-scores of summative (orange) and formative tests (blue) of 106851test results obtained between 2015 and 2021. Formative results of university 1 are used as a reference for comparisons. There is a significant interaction between university and the effect of the test variant.