The OSTE: Objective Structured Technical Examination for Engineering Students

Abstract

Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has been widely adopted as an assessment tool in healthcare education. It normally consists of a series of exercises through which students rotate individually and are marked by an assessor. We conducted a study aimed at investigating whether or not the OSCE principle could be adopted in engineering education to assess students skills. To our knowledge it is the first time that this principle has been applied in an engineering field. For this innovative application, this form of OSCE has been named Objective Structured Technical Examination (OSTE).