Exploring the use of videos to explain case report viva examinations and marking criteria to third year dental students

Aim: To explore student understanding of assessment and marking criteria arising from the use of videos showing simulated case report viva examinations Materials and Methods: Videos using were produced to demonstrate case report viva examinations using mock cases, examiners and students. A range of “poor” to “very good” student responses were created for each situation along with examiner questions and prompts relevant to each response. Students were shown the videos as part of a 40 minute teaching session which explained the examination and marking criteria. Students were invited to submit their feedback using a paper questionnaire with a five point scale and prompts for qualitative comments. This was completed and submitted anonymously during a teaching session. Responses were collated and analysed using a thematic approach to data. Results: A total of 48 students (64% of the year) responded to the questionnaire. The majority (95% n=46) found the videos useful. Students reported that videos helped with improving their: 1) understanding marking criteria, 2) awareness of student behaviour in the viva, 3) awareness of questions used in vivas 4), knowledge of approaches that can be used for answering questions. Students reported that videos helped them by 1) increasing their understanding of approaches for handling the viva 2) directing their preparation 3) putting them at their ease. In terms of improvements, students asked for more videos and more “good” response examples. Conclusions: Students consider viva videos for case reports, with simulated realistic examples of questions and answers to be a useful tool for examination preparation. The use of video is deemed helpful for explaining examination processes and marking criteria to students. Further work is needed to examine whether these videos help to improve student performance in examinations. Theme: Technology Enhanced Learning No 1