Barriers to Implementing Online Assessment in Medical and Dental Undergraduate

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to identify the barriers and challenges faced in implementing remote assessment technological techniques in medical and dental schools in Asian countries during this ongoing pandemic.Study Design: A scoping review.Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at the Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry (AFID), Rawalpindi, Pakistan June 2022 to September 2022.Materials and Methods: The Scoping review was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley framework, and literature was searched in electronic databases for relevant peer-reviewed studies over the last ten years. Keywords were used in PubMed, ERIC, psycINFO, and Google Scholar for grey literature. After screening and assessing for eligibility, 1490 publications were retrieved, and only 18 articles were included in the study. Data were synthesized to present the findings.Results: The themes identified after data synthesis broadly described the barriers to the implementation of online assessment in medical and dental undergraduate curricula. The themes were faculty perspective on remote assessment, IT issues, reliability of online exams, difficulties faced by students, and psychological impact. Insufficient resources and inadequate logistic support for IT staff led to a slow internet connection, technical failures, formatting limitations, bandwidth issues when using images and videos, longer duration of exams, and non-visibility of the screen.Conclusion: The scoping review will guide the medical and dental educationist in identifying challenges in implementing electronic assessment and pave the way in its design and operation.