Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35993348›Full record

ArticleMedical education online2022

Considering medical students' perception, concerns and needs for e-exam during COVID-19: a promising approach to improve subject specific e-exams.

Stefanie Ziehfreund, Johannes Reifenrath, Marjo Wijnen-Meijer, Julia Welzel, Fabian Sauter, Hannah Wecker, Tilo Biedermann, Alexander Zink

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical education online, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. E-learning Challenges among Healthcare Students: A Scoping Review.Journal of advances in medical education & professionalism · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Stefanie ZiehfreundDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3176-1120
Johannes ReifenrathSchool of Medicine, TUM Medical Education Center (TUM MEC), Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Marjo Wijnen-MeijerSchool of Medicine, TUM Medical Education Center (TUM MEC), Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Julia WelzelDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany.
Fabian SauterDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany.
Hannah WeckerDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany.
Tilo BiedermannDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany.
Alexander ZinkDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany.
Technical University of Munich · DEKarolinska Institutet · SEUniversity Hospital Augsburg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a rapid shift to digital strategies including e-exams in medical schools. However, there are significant concerns, predominately from student perspectives, and further data is required to successfully establish e-assessment in the medical curricula. The objective of the study was to examine medical students' perceptions, concerns, and needs regarding e-assessment to establish a comprehensive e-exam based on these and previous findings and to evaluate its effectiveness in terms of examinee perceptions and further needs. During the 2021 summer term, a cross-sectional study using qualitative and quantitative methods was conducted among all 1077 students at the School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich. They were asked to provide information regarding their characteristics, preferred exam format, e-assessment perception, concerns, and needs in an online questionnaire. Based on these findings, a pilot e-exam including an e-exam preparation for the students were established and subsequently evaluated among 125 pilot e-exam examinees under study consideration via an online-questionnaire. Of the 317 pre-exam participants (73.2% female), 70.3% preferred in-person exams and showed concerns about the technological framework, privacy, and examination requirements. Qualitative analysis showed that these concerns lead to additional exam stress and fear of failure. The 34 (79.4% female) participants who participated in the evaluation survey showed a significantly more positive e-exam perception. The fairness of the platform, the independence from an internet connection, the organization including the e-exam preparation, and the consideration of participant needs were discussed as particularly positive in the open-ended comments. In both surveys, participants requested uniform platforms and processes for all subjects. This study provides evidence for a positive, complementary role of student participation in a successful e-exam implementation. Furthermore, when establishing an e-exam format in the medical curricula, e-exam training, equal accessibility, availability offline, and all-round fairness should be considered.

Indexed as

COVID-19Students, MedicalCross-Sectional StudiesCurriculumFemaleHumansMalePandemicsPerceptioncurriculume-assessmente-exame-learningmedical students

Identifiers

PMID35993348
PMCPMC9397442
OpenAlexW4292512733

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.