Oral examinations: manual

Oral exams were frequently used in the past. In higher education, however, this form of assessment has become less and less popular: some people question its efficiency and reliability. Nevertheless, oral exams offer many possibilities; it is easier to ask questions and you are less dependent on the availability of examination rooms. In addition, it is a more reliable alternative to remote exams, now that generative AI tools are widely available. Are you curious about how to efficiently set up an oral exam so that it does not take more time than a written exam, even with a large number of students? And how you can ensure inclusivity, reliability, validity and transparency? The TLC FGw spoke with staff members with experience in this area and compiled a guide for oral exams with information and tips. 

Read about lecturers’ experiences with oral exams here.

On this page:
Advantages and disadvantages of oral exams
General tips
Part 1. Preparing for an oral exam
Part 2. The exam itself
Part 3. Grading and follow-up 

What are the advantages of oral exams? 

  • Thanks to direct communication between the lecturer and the student, students can explain their answers immediately. 
  • Through follow-up questions, it is easier to determine whether a student has actually mastered the material, and answers may also turn out to be partially correct. 
  • The grading is done quickly. This saves time. 
Click here for more advantages.
  • Students with special circumstances, such as those with visual impairments or dyslexia, can be better accommodated. 
  • The one-to-one nature of the exam makes it uniquely personal. Students appreciate to being seen and heard. 
  • Fewer doubts about originality or authenticity of answers and therefore less susceptible to fraud than other forms of assessment. 
  • The student receives immediate feedback from the lecturer. 
  • Oral language skills and ability to improvise can be assessed. 
  • Because answers must be given in the students’ own words and the lecturer can ask follow-up questions, orals elicit deeper learning and more critical reflection from the student.

And what are the disadvantages? 

  • It requires a lot of energy and concentration for both the student and the lecturer. 
  • Objectivity in assessment can be compromised if the lecturer is not sufficiently aware of the role possible bias towards the student, such as his or her behaviour in class. 
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  • Technical problems may occur with online oral exams. 
  • Not suitable for assessing written language skills. 
  • There are fewer options for standardisation of oral exams, such as exam length and number of questions. 

General tips: 

  • Prepare students well: what is the procedure, what can they expect, how should they prepare? It may be advisable to offer a Q&A session in which the lecturer indicates in advance exactly what the exam is about, what kind of questions will be asked (some sample questions will illustrate this even better), what is expected of students in terms of their level of knowledge and skills.
  • Have the exam begin with a global overview of the topics covered. This has the advantage of forcing you as a lecturer to plan the oral exam in terms of content.
  • Set the recording you make to stop each time after each student, so you don’t have to spend a long time trying to retrieve something. 

Organising oral examinations 

Part 1. Preparing for an oral exam 

Component Advantage Disadvantage
Setup[1]

 

 

All students are assessed using the same text and questions  The exam is the same for all students  Students can communicate with each other about the material and follow-up questions are harder 
All students are given a random selection[2] 0f questions or learning objectives[3]
(possibly based on the same text) 
Less susceptible to fraud because of randomisation 

If students are allowed to choose: more autonomy 

Preparing multiple sets of questions takes more time for the lecturer. 
Because each student is given a different exam, you need to ensure that the questions assess the same learning objectives and are of the same level (if necessary, they can be weighted differently)
The (selection of) questions are communicated to students in advance (the text or content on which the questions are asked may change).  Easier for students to know what to prepare  Less flexibility to change the questions or wording of questions during the examination
Difficulty level (Bloom’s taxonomy)  Lower order: reproduction, comprehension and application  Less vulnerable to cheating than written assessment 

Simple answer key 

Higher order: analysing, evaluating and creating  Allows for in-depth discussion ( follow-up questions) during the exam  More difficult to grade and compare answers. 
Exam procedure  Make a recording (mandatory when only one examiner is present)  A recording aids the grading process and can serve as evidence in case a student appeals. 
Tip: record the oral exam using Kaltura. The recording must be kept for two months
Student must agree to being recorded. It is good to mention this in the syllabus beforehand  
Helping students prepare[4] Preparing students for the exam during class or via Canvas  Increases transparency and decreases stress: students know what is expected of them  

[1] The oral exam can be designed in various ways, e.g. using a card box with different questions, a spinning wheel, bingo carousel with numbers, or a predefined questionnaire.
[2] The selection may or may not be decided in advance or during the exam, with or without consultation with the student.
[3] Students are assigned a learning objective and have to argue (with their own examples) how they have met the learning objective.
[4] Preparing students for the oral exam can be done in several ways: showing sample questions and discussing them in class, providing instruction on the setup of the exam and students’ expectations via Zoom, Teams or on site. 

 

Part 2. The exam itself. 

Component Advantage Disadvantage
of time (see examples in part 1: setup) 
Short’ (10-20 mins)  Relatively quick to complete for larger groups (30-40 students). 

Quick impression of student mastery of learning objectives 

‘Medium’ (20-30 mins)  Makes it easier to go deeper into the material and possibly include multiple sections in the exam.  Time-consuming with a large number of students (≥25 students) 
‘Long’ (30-40 mins)  Allows multiple sections within the exam 

Makes it easier to go deeper into the material 

Half an hour or more is unusually long and concentration may be lost 
Icebreaker

 

Begin the oral exam with an icebreaker or warmup[5] This allows the student to get used to the setting and gives sufficient space for the question or assignment to sink in. Student feels seen and heard  Time-consuming 
Role of the lecturer(s) during the exam  Ask follow-up questions and guiding through the conversation  The possibility for lecturers to ‘pierce through’ students’ answers through questioning and thus determine whether students have actually mastered the subject matter.  Helping too much to find the right answer and immediately making value judgements (“nice!” or “good!”) 
Keep track of selection of questions (if randomised per student) and take notes  Makes it easier to remember, substantiate and, if necessary, justify the proceedings and grading of the exam afterwards  Requires a good documentation strategy (e.g. a table per student with checkmarks and notes

[5] ‘Breaking the ice’ can be done in various ways, for example by starting with reassuring words, a general introductory talk to put the student at ease, or by letting the student choose which part of the exam they would like to start with. This moment can also be used to give the student a chance to think silently about an exam question. 

Part 3. Grading and follow-up 

Component Advantage Disadvantage
When to grade Grading during the exam itself (i.e. immediately afterwards)  The exam is fresh in one’s memory, the lecturer does not have to reconstruct how it went after the fact  No opportunity to confer with colleagues and more difficult to adjust pass mark. 

Previous student’s performance may affect grading of those after 

Grading afterwards  The oral exam may be reviewed with the co-examiner (if present; or based on recording)  Calculating, justifying and communicating grades takes more time. Comparison of exam performance is difficult 
Method of assessment (rubric) Written criteria on which the student is assessed  By assessing objectively using a rubric, it is clear what the student is being assessed on and when the criteria/competencies have been achieved.
Tip: share the rubric with the student beforehand for greater transparency 
The rubric may be too abstract, making it difficult to assign a grade 
Grading intuitively  Just as in the case of thesis assessment, a more holistic category such as ‘general impression’ may be useful.  Assessment is more subjective making it less easy to substantiate and justify in case of accreditation 
One examiner plus recording. Optionally assess with two examiners, whether synchronous or not  Additional observations and checking judgement through second examiner  Requires clear division of roles, possibility of influence on grades and differences of opinion 

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