An important and serious problem is that the assessment is still too much focused on knowledge. Learning is a complex holistic process involving many aspects besides knowledge. The assessment should stimulate a deep oriented, holistic learning and focus on all educational objectives of the curriculum. Most courses in a chemical engineering curriculum include practical experimental parts. These parts are normally assessed formatively in the laboratory.
Students hand in reports and demonstrate their assignments and they get immediate feedback.
This is very important and commendable. However, summative assessments of practical engineering skills are of rare occurrence in engineering curricula. An individual summative assessment could be of major importance to influence students to focus on the skill objective of the curriculum. The aim of the OSCE is to test students' clinical and communication skills in a planned and structured way. The examination consists of several stations each presenting a scenario.