Oral Assessment

Oral assessments can be tailored to a variety of contexts and courses. 

• They may be combined with or added to another assessment such as an essay, project, or presentation to allow the examiner to probe deeper into the students’ understanding and application of concepts and to encourage reflection. For example, in a media course, students give a presentation, followed by ten minutes of discussion with the assessor about the presentation content, their research process and how it relates to elements in the course.
• They may also be a separate or stand-alone assessment in which students demonstrate their ability to participate in an authentic situation. These are commonly used in Business, Medicine, Education and Languages. For example, pre-service teachers could be asked to give professional advice related to a classroom scenario to a ‘colleague’, played by the assessor, applying pedagogy and principles learned in their course. 
• An oral assessment could also be considered as an alternative assessment for students who need a supplementary exam for reasons of efficiency and practicality. However, it must assess the same content and Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs).
• Oral assessments are often conducted between one student and the assessors, but there is potential for them to be done in pairs or groups. Students could be interviewed after a group presentation or students could participate in a scenario in pairs. It is important, however, that all students involved have an equal opportunity to participate and be assessed.

There are numerous benefits of utilising an oral assessment.

• Oral assessments can offer an authentic-like experience for students, which they can apply to future work situations, e.g. in meetings, job interviews, pitches, professional tasks.
• Both the assessment and preparation for it can help students to develop communication skills, which can enhance employability (Theobold, 2021; Sotiradou et al., 2020).
• Oral assessments are flexible in mode and could be conducted online or face to face.
• With the increase in the use of Gen AI and contract cheating, an oral assessment is one of the most secure modes, preserving academic integrity (Nikolic et al., 2023).
• They can complement other assessments in the course and add variety. For example, rather than having two or three written assessments or exams in a course, an oral assessment which achieves the same objectives could replace one of these.
• Many academics find marking oral assessments to be efficient, as it can be done simultaneously and completed within the interview time slot (Aricò, 2022). 
• Many academics have found oral assessment and the scaffolding for this mode to be enjoyable, to facilitate connections with their students and to build community in their classrooms.
• Some students, too, have reported oral assessments to be more enjoyable, engaging and relevant than other assessment modes, and felt they encouraged academic integrity (Ward et al. 2023).

Many of the challenges of implementing oral assessments relate to scheduling and perceived time of marking, particularly in large classes. However, oral assessments are scalable, and these concerns can be remedied with careful planning, and set-up, including the use of all tutorial staff in a course when possible. 

An additional challenge for many students is their relative inexperience with this type of assessment, which could lead to anxiety. Therefore, scaffolding the assessment and giving students practice in explaining their understanding during the learning process is vital (Theobold, 2021).
 

Design and Planning

• As with any assessment, ensure that the assessment task aligns with the CLOs and Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs).
• Consider how to contextualise the assessment and make it authentic, when appropriate. E.g. Rather than asking a student what they would do in a particular situation, ask them to assume the persona. 
• Consider the length of the assessment. Students should have enough time to settle in and address the CLOs, but overly long assessments could be exhausting for both parties. Ten to twenty minutes is a good guide.
• Create a marking rubric which aligns with the CLOs. 
• Create procedures and protocols for delivering the assessments. Create a bank of questions/scenarios so that not all students will have the same questions but ensure equivalence of challenge and alignment with CLOs. (See Pearce & Chiavaroli for guidance in prompting techniques).

Scaffolding

• Consider how you will prepare students for this assessment. Ensure that they understand the purpose and structure of the assessment and how they can succeed.
• Give practice opportunities within class if possible-e.g. peer practice and ideally provide exemplars of a student doing the task with feedback on performance.
• Build communication opportunities within the class so that students are less nervous during the assessment and build confidence in this skill. 

Scheduling

• When scheduling interviews, ensure you have included adequate time for marking within the time slot, e.g., 20 minutes for the interview and ten minutes to finalise the marking.
• For large cohorts, consider using online scheduling tools such as Microsoft Bookings to manage the logistics of multiple bookings, whether face to face or online. Consider your resources. Spread the interviews among the tutors in your course and ensure they are trained in protocol and using the marking rubrics.

Implementation

• Ensure that oral assessments are equitable. Use more than one assessor to conduct and mark the assessment, using the marking rubric. 
• Record the interviews and keep all records for moderation and any grade disputes. 
• Create a supportive and encouraging environment, e.g. use greetings and a conversational style, to reduce stress for students and allow them to perform their best.

A number of courses across UNSW faculties have adopted oral assessments. See the videos below.

Dr Peter Neal fosters communication skills and teamwork through this hybrid approach to oral assessment, consisting of group presentations and individually assessed Q & A.
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Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton explains the rationale, structure and logistics of an oral exam used in a final year optometry course to assess professional readiness and develop essential communication skills.




Dr Pranit Anand explains how he developed and scaffolded an interactive oral assessment into a new postgraduate course. He chose this assessment for its authenticity and alignment with industry expectations. After piloting this assessment in 2023, he plans to scale this assessment for a much larger cohort.

Visit the YouTube playlist to see other examples of oral assessments at UNSW. 

Aricò, F.R. (2022). Evaluative conversations: unlocking the power of viva voce assessment for undergraduate students. Assessment and Feedback in a Post-Pandemic Era: A Time for Learning and Inclusion, Baughan, P. eds, 47-56, Advance HE, York, UK. Sambell_ChangingAssessmentFor.pdf (cumbria.ac.uk)   

Nikolic, S., Daniel, S., Haque, R., Belkina, M., Hassan, G.M., Grundy, S., Lyden, S., Neal, P. & Sandison, C. (2023). ChatGPT versus engineering education assessment: a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional benchmarking and analysis of this generative artificial intelligence tool to investigate assessment integrity. European Journal of Engineering Education, 48:4, 559-614, ChatGPT versus engineering education assessment: a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional benchmarking and analysis of this generative artificial intelligence tool to investigate assessment integrity (tandfonline.com)​ 

Sotiriadou, P., Logan, D., Daly, A. & Guest, R. (2020). The role of authentic assessment to preserve academic integrity and promote skill development and employability. Studies in Higher Education, 45:11, 2132-2148, https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1582015  

Theobold, A.S. (2021). Oral Exams: A More Meaningful Assessment of Students’ Understanding. Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education, 29:2, 156-159, Oral Exams: A More Meaningful Assessment of Students’ Understanding (tandfonline.com) 

Ward, M., O’Riordan, F., Logan-Fleming, D., Cooke, D., Concannon-Gibney, D., Efthymiou, M. & Watkins, M. (2023). Interactive oral assessment case studies: An innovative, academically rigorous, authentic assessment approach. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, DOI: 10.1080/14703297.2023.2251967 

*This useful resource from Griffith University provides research, advice and case studies of interactive orals implemented at Griffith and other Australian and international universities. It features examples of small and large-scale implementation.

Interactive Oral Assessment; an authentic and integral alternative to examination.(office.com)

Pearce, J. & Chiavaroli, N (2020). Prompting Candidates in Oral Assessment Contexts: A Taxonomy and Guiding Practices. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development. 7, 1-4, DOI: 10.1177/2382120520948881.
 

This resource was created as part of the UNSW Nexus Program by Meredith MacAulay, Project Lead (Arts, Design and Architecture), Diana Turnip (Medicine & Health), Nasrin Danish (Engineering) and Anh Nguyen (Multimedia, PVCE Portfolio).

We would like to thank the following UNSW academics for their valuable insights into oral assessment, which informed this guide: Professor Sandra Hale, Valerie Combe-Germes, Dr Tara McLennon, Dr Sharon Aris, Dr Madison Cartwright (Arts, Design & Architecture); Dr Peter Neal, Professor Ariana Vignati, Dr Sarah Grundy, Dr Jose Bilbao (Engineering); Dr Pranit Anand, Minnie Singh-Murphy, Flemming Rhode (Business); Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton, Associate Professor Silas Taylor (Medicine & Health); Dr Maja Cassidy (Science)