Home / Case Studies / The Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC)

Secure Online Assessment Platform for High-Stakes Exams

Setting the Scene

The Architectural Institute of British Columbia (or AIBC) is the regulatory body that oversees the registration and licensure of architects in the province. To become a registered architect, there are a number of steps involved
following the completion of an approved academic credential.

One of the registration pathways is through the Internship in Architecture Program. Prospective architects are required to complete an internship, which includes a mandatory number of experience hours in different aspects of the practice of architecture and a specified set of professional development courses through AIBC. Once the hours and mandatory courses are completed, there is a national written examination, and an oral exam conducted by a panel of experienced architects, which is specific to the practice of architecture in British Columbia.

The Challenge

As the exam progresses, three different examiners simultaneously take notes. The results are then deliberated by the panel, with the result submitted by the chair. Previously, AIBC used a manual process for managing oral exams and results, which included paper-based sheets for notes and records, with manual entry of results into the AIBC database. More recently, eCom’s Canadian partner, South Arm Training, has been assisting AIBC in enhancing the management of the exam process for Architects in British Columbia. Specifically, the focus for South Arm has been on refining and updating the AIBC oral exam procedures for this regulated profession.

Prior to the pandemic, all oral exams were conducted in person at the AIBC offices, but since 2020, exams began taking place via web conferencing. The existing processes required exam records and results needed to be emailed back and forth, raising concerns about the security of these documents. In 2022, South Arm began looking for a cloud-based exam system to manage and conduct the exams.

The AIBC oral exam process was quite unique in having an assessor-marked process that utilized a panel rather than a single examiner, and a scoring rubric that required both deliberation by the panel and manual grading for a final result.

The Solution

After seeing a demo of eCom’s flexible and secure online assessment platform, eNetAssess, South Arm was confident it could handle the required workflows and approached eCom to support AIBC. eNetAssess was the only tool they thoroughly reviewed that allowed multiple assessors to grade the same candidate or multiple candidates simultaneously. This one-to-many and many-to-one approach perfectly suited AIBC’s needs.

The platform allowed for quick entry of results and comments without disrupting the flow of conversation and provided detailed checklists to mark target responses across a series of related questions. It was also crucial for AIBC to view the results from all three panelists in one place and report the final result, along with any comments, to the candidate.

The first set of exams using eNetAssess began in June 2023. AIBC typically administers up to 50 exams over a few weeks, every three to four months, with multiple exam sessions often running concurrently. Exams are conducted either in person or via web conference, and in both scenarios, eNetAssess has performed exceptionally well.

The system's flexibility in assigning multiple roles to users has empowered AIBC to independently schedule and manage their exams. Assessors can easily log in at the designated times to conduct assessments, with all records securely stored in one place. Overall, eNetAssess has proven to be the ideal solution for AIBC’s complex exam process and is anticipated to be successfully implemented with other clients in the future.