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Blueprint coverage for OSCE exams in StudyDrome

See what your circuit covers, cell by cell.

StudyDrome Exam Manager blueprints an OSCE as a two-axis coverage grid. Set rows to one tag dimension and columns to another, or to your Clinical Skills library. Every cell lists the questions at that intersection, each with its facility to four decimal places and its administration count. Export the grid to color-banded Excel.

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How do you build a blueprint matrix?

  1. 1

    Classify your questions first. A tag type is a named dimension: Topic, Clinical Domain, or a competency framework. Its tags nest into a tree.

  2. 2

    Add Clinical Skills where you assess skill rather than knowledge. Skills are a per-account library, joined to questions alongside their tags.

  3. 3

    Open Tests, then OSCE Exams. Choose a blueprint on an exam row, or run the bank-wide blueprint from the list.

  4. 4

    In the Blueprint Options drawer, set the rows axis and the columns axis. Each offers None, any tag type by name, or Skills.

  5. 5

    Read the grid. Every cell names its questions and carries facility and administration history for each one.

  6. 6

    Export to Excel. Each cell keeps its facility-band color, so the committee copy reads the same as the screen.

What does each blueprint cell tell you?

Each axis is set independently. Rows can be one tag dimension and columns another, or columns can be your Clinical Skills library. Tags nest inside a dimension, so "Arrhythmia" sits under "Cardiology" and the grid reads as a hierarchy rather than a flat list.

In every cell

What it tells you

The questions at that intersection

Which items actually cover that pairing, by name

Facility per question

The observed mean across every past administration, to four decimal places

Administration count per question

How often that question has been used before

Facility for one administered station is the mean candidate score divided by the station maximum. Per question, StudyDrome takes the unweighted mean of those values across its administrations. That is the same convention used in the item analysis reports.

Empty intersections are dropped. The grid stays sparse, so a large bank still fits on a screen. A summary line sits above it: "{n} questions · {m} with exam history".

New to the artifact itself? Start with what an exam blueprint is.

Where do you open the blueprint on screen?

The blueprint lives with the exams, not in a separate reporting tool. Two routes reach it, and both open the same grid.

  • From an exam:The "Blueprint" row action on an OSCE exam scopes the grid to that circuit.

  • From the list:The same action at the list level scopes the grid to a question bank instead.

  • Blueprint Options:A drawer sets both axes. Each choice reads "None", a tag type by its own name, or "Skills".

  • Reading aids:Show tag codes beside names, and trim long headings so wide grids stay legible.

  • Child question banks:Included by default, so a parent question bank shows everything filed beneath it.

  • Your view, remembered:Axis choices, colors, and display options persist in your own browser between visits.

What do the colors in the Excel export mean?

Export the matrix to get a real spreadsheet, not a screenshot. Each cell retains the color of the facility band it belongs to, with a solid fill and a thin cell border. A coverage picture therefore survives being emailed to a committee.

Default band

Fill

What it marks

Facility up to 0.2

Amber

The hardest questions in the grid

Facility up to 0.8

Green

The working middle

Facility up to 1.0

Pink

The easiest questions

No exam history yet

White, by default

Items you have not yet administered

The bands are yours to edit. Add one, move a boundary, change a color. Bands sort ascending, and a cell takes the first band whose upper bound reaches its facility. The "no history" color is a setting in its own right, so untested items stand out from easy ones at a glance.

What does the blueprint report say, and what do you decide?

The blueprint is a coverage instrument. It shows you where the gaps are, and you decide what to add.

  • Two hierarchical axes at a time: competency against skill. Two axes read cleanly on a page and in a spreadsheet, and a committee can argue about them.

  • Axes are chosen per view. Swap them, and the same bank re-frames in a second, so one grid answers several questions.

  • The grid scopes either to the whole question bank or to a single published circuit. Bank view plans the year; exam view defends a sitting.

  • Tags classify your questions. The blueprint specifies classification and reports what it finds, so your taxonomy remains the single source of truth.

  • Facility and administration counts come from real settings. A cell full of untested items is visible before you build the circuit, not after.

  • The export is the evidence artifact. Color bands, cell borders, and a shaded header row make it a document a quality panel can file.

Who uses the blueprint matrix?

  • Assessment leads to mapping a circuit to a competency framework before the station set is signed off.

  • OSCE coordinators are checking that a skill is assessed more than once across the circuit.

  • Question bank owners are deciding where to commission the next batch of stations.

  • Quality panels who want coverage to be stated in a document rather than a claim.

Frequently asked questions

What can the blueprint matrix use as its axes?

Each axis is set to a tag dimension, Clinical Skills, or None. Tag dimensions are your own: Topic, Clinical Domain, and a competency framework. Tags nest, so a parent groups its children in the grid. Skills are the per-account clinical library. A common setup runs competency down the rows and skill across the columns.

How does StudyDrome Exam Manager calculate the facility shown in each cell?

Facility for one administered station is the mean candidate score divided by the station maximum. For a question, StudyDrome Exam Manager then takes the unweighted mean of those values across all administrations and reports it to four decimal places. The cell also carries how many times each question has been administered, so you can weigh the figure by how much evidence sits behind it.

Can we blueprint an entire question bank rather than a single exam?

Yes. The same grid runs in two scopes. The question bank scope shows what your bank can currently cover, which is the view used for planning next year. Exam scope shows what one published circuit actually assessed, which is the view for defending a sitting. Child question banks are included by default, so a parent question bank reports everything filed beneath it.

What does the Excel export look like?

A real spreadsheet with one cell per intersection. Each cell is filled with the color of its facility band and outlined with a thin border, under a shaded header row. Three bands ship by default: amber at 0.2, green at 0.8, and pink at 1.0. Items with no exam history take on a color of their own: white, unless you change it.

How do we use the blueprint when planning the next sitting?

Read the grid for two things: thin cells and pale cells. A thin cell means a pairing that few questions cover, so commission stations there. A pale cell means questions with little exam history. Export the grid, circulate it, and let the panel agree on the additions. Rerun the blueprint once the new stations are tagged.

Book a pilot

Bring your tag dimensions and one station set. We will build the blueprint, run both axes, and hand you the color-banded export.

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