Oral Exams

What

An oral exam assesses students’ learning based on the spoken word. Students are asked to use the spoken word, guided by questions or small tasks, to show they have achieved the learning objectives. There are different kinds of orals, e.g., presentations often combined with questions and answer moments; interrogation in which one or more examiners ask the student questions; orals to check the authorship of a student or contribution to groupwork; orals related to hands-on actions (demonstrating and explaining).  

Advantages

• The examiner can probe reasoning, ask follow-up questions, and clarify ambiguities.
• Questions can be re-expressed when they are not understood
• Reduces opportunities for plagiarism, use of AI, copying from others, etc.  Students must be able to express their own thoughts and ideas. 
• It can be used to check authorship or contribution to group work and ensure that students have learned sufficiently in group work. 
• Flexibility: The difficulty level can be adapted to determine the level of understanding. Students can shine.  
• It suits some students better; they might perform better and prefer an oral exam, compared to a written exam.  
• Students might prepare better because they don't know the questions beforehand and don't want to act foolishly.
• Suits some learning objectives better. It might be more authentic than a written exam. 
• The assessment might take less time in total (including the assessing part and feedback) than using, e.g., a written exam with open questions. Up to 100 students, it might be something to consider. 

Disadvantages

• Demanding for the assessors, which means that the number of possible oral examinations per day will be limited. 
• Limitation of content validity. Since only a few questions can be asked during the available time, oral exams test rather depth than breadth of knowledge and understanding. 
• Students might feel more pressure and anxiety. Underperform. 
• There is potential for subjectivity and bias. Several factors might influence the judgment, e.g., the attitude of the students, the communication style.
• It might take more time in total (including the assessing part and feedback) than using, e.g., a written exam with open questions.
• To make it valid, transparent, and reliable (fair) takes a lot of effort and preparation. 

Duration

The length of an oral exam depends on its purpose, level, and format. As some rules of thumb:
> To check understanding of course content: 15-20 min.
> Seminar or project defense; to discuss a report, paper, project results, often combined with a short presentation: 15-30 min. 
> Advanced oral exam (e.g., Master's level), for in-depth examination of broad or specialized knowledge: 30-60 min.

Often, a 15–25 minute oral exam per student seems a good choice — long enough to test understanding and reasoning, but short enough to stay as the assessor focused and fair and not overwhelming the student.

Student preparation

Students should be prepared for this type of assessment. They should be informed explicitly and elaborately about the expected procedure beforehand. If possible, it is recommended to show in a simulated setting what can be expected; this can be in a video. Assure them that the oral is meant to provide an opportunity to show what they have learned.
At the beginning of an oral examination, allow some time to explain the procedure briefly during the oral and what is expected (e.g., short answers, long answers; should a student admit that he/she doesn't know something, so a next question can be asked), and put the person at ease. 

Grading, reliability, and quality assurance

It is recommended to use a grading scale or rubric to stay consistent and fair. A filled-in standard form will help to substantiate your judgment in retrospect and upon request. The use of two assessors will increase reliability, but this might not always be possible. In that case, a recording can be considered to substantiate the assessment in case of disputes.
Assessment might be biased because of assessing pitfalls; students’ articulateness, shyness, speed of thought, gender, language skills, etc., can influence the judgment. Be aware of influencing factors that should not be allowed to contribute to the determination of the grade. 
Keep in mind that during the oral exam, it can be very stressful for students, and that nervousness or shyness may prevent students from showing their abilities. Try to put them at ease.
Point of attention: the first student can pass on the questions to other students. Consider whether this is objectionable and may disadvantage or benefit the earlier or later students. Similar but different question scenarios can be used to overcome this point.

Feedback

Decide whether you can provide feedback right away at the end of the meeting, or whether students get it at a later moment.  Will the feedback be verbal or (also) written, for example, by way of using a rubric? 

Regulations

Be aware of rules and regulations regarding oral exams. You can find these in the EER and/or Rules & Regulations of the Examination Board of your programme. A rule in the bachelor EER right now is:  The oral examination is public, unless the Examination Board has determined otherwise in a special case. 

Ideas

• An oral exam can be done in small groups or duos. Interaction can be stimulated. Students can be invited to ask questions of each other.  This can be based on submitted products, which the students were allowed to read beforehand (peer feedback). 
• An oral exam can also be combined with an assignment and product, for instance, a (group) report.
• Students can be given a realistic problem, case, scenario, or dilemma (can also be sent beforehand to read) and are asked to apply what they have learned through some guided questions. They can, for instance, be asked: What would you advise the CEO of the company regarding....? 
• Related to the example above: Students take on a professional role (If you were the director of ...) and must respond to questions from an “authentic” context.
• The student is asked to explain a complex concept as if explaining it for a certain target group ( non-expert). 
• Reflective oral: Students reflect on what they’ve learned, how their thinking evolved, and how they’d apply knowledge in the future. 
• Students record a short video according to some guidelines (or PPT + audio). In the oral, follow-up questions can be asked.
• Combine oral examination with a visual element such as a mind map, concept diagram, poster, or short presentation (3 slides). Let students use a whiteboard to explain something (e.g., a calculation, or the form of a graph). 

A tip by Kristina Edström: reverse the burden of proof.  Ask students in the first 7 minutes of an oral exam to show that they have reached the learning outcomes. Follow-up questions will then pop up.  Ask students kindly how they think it went after the exam.  Make sure they know they have to show ”real” understanding, in real time. [ 2016-11-09_Edstrom_Teaching-Trick.pptx (janleenkloosterman.nl) PPT - see page 17/18.]  

Special purposes

On this page, we focused on the oral exam itself. An oral may be used for inspection purposes, for example, in the event of suspected unauthorized AI use. For tips on conducting an oral inspection, please refer to the following article, which includes tips on questions that can be asked at the end: A follow-up oral process interview: What it is and what it should not be - Educational Development & Training - Utrecht University NB. A programme will have rules on whether you are expected to check for fraud yourself, as the examiner, or should report it right away to the Examination Board. See the following page for explanation and check out the EER and Rules & Regulation of the Examination Board of your programme. What can I do if I suspect the unauthorised use of AI in assessment?: Resource Hub - AI in education

Sources
Useful extra  information & tips

• Guidelines: Oral-exam-make-it-valid-reliable-and-transparent.pdf (utwente.nl). Drawn up by UT/CELT March 2020 – based on a more elaborate guide  (PDF) A Short Guide to Oral Assessment. by Gordon Joughin.
• Guidelines (Dutch): Mondeling examen — KU Leuven Learning Lab /  Mondeling examen — Onderwijs
• Guidelines for Oral Assessments and Exams | Office of Teaching and Learning. (University of Guelph). An elaborate site with a step-by-step approach for designing and implementing orals, a lot of extra sources also about online orals, and including research on the use of orals in different education domains. 
• Full article: Interactive oral assessment: Staff perceptions, challenges and benefits of this robust, authentic assessment design approach.
• Good Practice Guidance on the Conduct of Oral Examinations (Vivas) for Postgraduate Research Degrees.pdf. Actually meant for thesis orals, but with a lot of useful tips about how to ask questions in an oral and what not to do. 
• Guidelines-on-Online-Oral-Exams-for-Lecturers.pdf. (TU Delft). Created in Corona times, but remote assessment might still be useful in some circumstances, and it provides a lot of general advice too.