The influence of the introduction of objective structured practical examinations in physiology on student performance at King Faisal University Medical School.

The Department of Physiology at the College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, King Faisal University (KFU) had serious concerns about the effectiveness of the practical classes in motivating student learning and in achieving the objectives of these practicals. A new form of evaluation, the objective structured practical examination (OSPE) was introduced in June 1987. At KFU, the introduction of OSPE has led to a marked improvement in the mean scores for the laboratory component of the final examinations in the physiology courses. Such an improvement was not consistently observed in the other components of the examinations. Performance in stations evaluating skills was in general better than in those testing analytical and interpretive abilities. Female students performed significantly better in OSPE than male students in 4/5 and 3/5 physiology I and II examinations. Such gender differences were not observed in the written examinations.