Use of oral examinations to assess student learning in the social sciences
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11954069 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Helen Hazen (University of Denver, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 592-607 |
| Publication date | 2020-06-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Geography in Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0309-8265 • E-ISSN: 1466-1845 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03098265.2020.1773418 |
| OpenAlex | W3033346189 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 17 |
Currently, oral examinations are infrequently used for student assessment outside of language classes. Many instructors consider the administering of oral exams time-consuming and their grading subjective, in addition to concerns over raising student stress levels. On the other hand, oral exams provide many potential benefits, including the opportunity to assess deeper levels of student understanding, to provide instant feedback to students, and to develop students’ oral communication skills. This study explores the potential advantages and drawbacks of the oral format using a questionnaire survey among students who completed an oral exam in a mid-level undergraduate geography course. I conclude that for small class sizes orals can offer benefits that outweigh the potential disadvantages, if carefully designed and administered. For students who considered oral skills to be their strength, orals allowed them to excel. For a larger group of students, orals were a stressful experience, but allowed the student to provide potentially a more nuanced answer with prompting from the examiner. A minority of students considered that the oral format had compromised their ability to perform; however, it is arguably this group of students who might benefit most from practicing verbal skills via the oral exam format
Class (philosophy · Grading (engineering · Mathematics education · Medical education · Computer Science · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Evaluation of Teaching Practices · Medicine · Psychology · Student Assessment and Feedback
On the Spot Presentation-Based Assessment (OTSPA)
Interactive oral assessment
Human Behavioral, Subjective, and Physiological Assessments Under an Oral Test With a Humanoid Robot Examiner
Giving voice to women students
Feminist pedagogy within constraints
Reconsidering the Use of Oral Exams and Assessments
The Effects of Language Anxiety on Students' Oral Test Performance and Attitudes
The influence of interlocutor proficiency in a paired oral assessment
A Note on Multiple Choice Exams, with Respect to Students' Risk Preference and Confidence
Oral presentations in higher education
Justifying and applying oral presentations in geographical education
Testing Historical Knowledge
Peer and Teacher Assessments of Oral Presentation Skills
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |