October 8, 2020 Issue No. 13 Free and On Demand: An Educator’s Perspective on Virtual Teaching A special virtual event for educators hosted by Michener Institute faculty and experienced Clinical Genetics MLT Jennifer O’Leary is now available as an on-demand webinar, and it’s free for members! Gain fresh ideas and learn simple strategies you can easily incorporate into the virtual learning environment. These strategies will not only help you increase student engagement, they’ll also help you increase your comfort and satisfaction with teaching online. Register for the free webinar here. You can also complete the quiz for Professional Enhancement Program Hours. Tools for Innovation and Virtual Learning Leading a class through virtual learning has been a new experience for many educators this year. As we reflect on the first months of the academic year and begin planning for 2021, CSMLS Learning Specialist Andrea Livingstone created an article to help you adapt your virtual learning strategy. Read the article here. MLT and educator Jennifer O’Leary provided a compilation of resources to promote online collaboration. Find online collaboration tools, tips for facilitating online, and other resources to help you navigate challenges and sharpen your skills with current best practices. Explore the full list here. Special Offer from Simulation CanadaSimulation Canada is offering three “2 for the price of 1” discounts for their upcoming Keystones Apex online course on October 26–30, 2020. These three offers will be allocated geographically, with the first organization within each region (western provinces; Ontario or Quebec; and eastern provinces or territories) to register a participant being offered the chance to register a second participant for free. Find more information about the course here and the special offer here. Remote Proctor Testing: Summer Update RPT (remote proctor testing) has proven to be a challenging modality for some candidates to use on Exam day due to computer and internet requirements needed for a successful session. However, our data on Exam performance shows that there is, in the end, no difference in performance between those that use RPT and those that use in-person testing (IPT) at exam centres. Third-party data analysis, performed by Spire Psychometrics for both the MLT-General and MLA Exams, continues to show that the effect of the testing modality is negligible on candidate performance, especially after considering the performance of the educational institutions that comprise each group. The prediction of the passing rates and averages for each of the IPT and RPT groups based only on the corresponding data for each institute was very accurate. Essentially, there is no evidence to suggest that test modality impacts our Exam scores. The RPT platform allows candidates to challenge the Certification Exam while physical distancing measures are enforced across the country. Additionally, this modality increases geographical reach and provides those that are unable to write in an Exam centre during the current pandemic with an alternate option. We have received messages of both positive and negative candidate experiences. The following data provides an overview of Exam restart* statistics from the June and August 2020 Exam sessions. Essentially, 2/3rds of Exam candidates who chose RPT were not affected in any way and had a positive experience. *A restart occurs when an Exam candidate’s connection to the Exam has dropped and the candidate will need to repeat the check-in and security process to regain access to the Exam content. This may occur each time connectivity is interrupted until a candidate completes the Exam in the allotted time, it is decided their connection is too unstable, or they are using the wrong computer for RPT. Helping You Through RPT To help Exam candidates be prepared for possible issues with RPT, we have created a troubleshooting and requirements guide for candidates using this modality. We've gathered resources to help Exam candidates, including:
We suggest Exam candidates print and keep this list just outside their testing room on the day of the Exam in case they require it for troubleshooting. For more information about RPT and what to expect on Exam day, please see the CSMLS RPT web page and the ProProctor help page. Future Exam Sessions In 2021, each MLA Exam session will be held over two days, with the exception of the April 2021 session as this is an additional exam date that was added due to COVID-19. The MLA Exam will also continue to be held four times per year, with the additional Exam session to be held in August. In 2022, we plan to expand the MLT Exams into multiday sessions, and we are looking at offering all Exam sessions quarterly in 2023. Exam Fee Increase CSMLS exam fees will slightly increase in 2021, starting with the February 2021 exam session. The increase is necessary to help us continue to counter the rising costs associated with providing the Examination. Please see the full list of dates and fees here or in the table below. |