Formative Elements of Online Longitudinal Assessment (OLA)
By David Laszakovits, MBA, ABR Communications Director, and Mary S. Newell, MD, ABR Associate Executive Director for Diagnostic Radiology
2025;18(3):11
When designing Online Longitudinal Assessment (OLA), the ABR set out to create an assessment tool that not only provides a measure of summative performance but also serves as a formative evaluation instrument.
Immediately after an OLA question is answered, the participant is provided with the correct answer, a short rationale, and a reference. These formative elements are often cited by diplomates as one of the most appreciated aspects of OLA. On an OLA satisfaction survey in 2023, over 76% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that OLA helped them identify and remediate clinical knowledge gaps. One diplomate commented, “I enjoy the questions. They reveal to me where to improve my knowledge base.”
Diplomates also appreciate the learning that occurs when they answer a question incorrectly. Every OLA question has a “variant,” a question similar in scope and content. These paired questions are administered at random within the structure of a blueprint of the knowledge domain. If the diplomate incorrectly answers the first in the pair, they can review the accompanying rationale for the correct answer and, if desired, pursue more information in the provided reference. The variant question is administered three or more weeks later to directly address the knowledge gap and reinforce the teaching point. Over 1.5 million “variants” have been administered, and the percentage correct for those questions is greater than 75%.
In addition, OLA participants have access to their last 250 answered OLA questions, which allows them to sort and review answered questions using the My OLA History tab when logged in to OLA. This allows diplomates to easily determine if there are specific content areas where they may have knowledge gaps.
We thank the volunteer committees for their hard work and invaluable expertise in generating and refining OLA content, and we are very grateful for the constructive criticism offered by the diplomates (discussed in previous issues of The Beam) in support of further improvements.
OLA Reminders at Halfway Point of 2025
2025;18(3):11
An important date is coming for diplomates in Continuing Certification who haven’t started answering Online Longitudinal Assessment (OLA) questions yet this year. August 3 is the last day when they can start participating and still be able to reach their annual progress requirement which, for most, requires answering 52 questions.
Waiting until that date to begin answering questions impacts the program’s flexibility that participants enjoy. Those diplomates would need to answer all their remaining question opportunities to avoid forfeits, thus losing the ability to skip some weeks or decline questions.
Here are a couple of other things for diplomates to consider as they assess their OLA participation halfway through the year.
Avoid Forfeited Questions
Questions that are required but unanswered for a given year are considered “forfeited” and counted as incorrect responses. For example, a diplomate who is required to answer 52 questions and only answered 50 would have two questions “forfeited.”
Participants can identify if they have forfeited questions in two places:
- Annual progress dashboard for the current and previous year
- My OLA history
Two Choices After Meeting the Annual Progress Requirement
Diplomates who have met their annual progress requirements have two options regarding participation for the rest of the year:
- Take a break: They may wait until next year to resume answering questions.
- Keep going: They may choose to answer more than 52 questions. There is no penalty for continuing to participate.
Questions? Contact Us
Anyone who has fallen behind or has questions about their OLA status may contact a certification manager at information@theabr.org or 520-790-2900.
