Implementing Oral Assessments

Oral assessments gauge student understanding through synchronous verbal communication as opposed to written. In many undergraduate courses, the most common form of oral assessment is in-person and/or recorded presentations, but as assignments and exams are being redesigned in light of GenAI, some instructors are turning towards synchronous oral assessments (e.g. examinations, interviews, conversations).

While oral assessments are often associated with second or foreign language courses, graduate studies, and thesis defences, there is potential for them to be implemented across all disciplines and levels of study. Verbal communication is an essential skill for students in academic spaces, as well as across social and professional spheres.

For instructors, implementing oral assessments can:	For students, participating in oral assessments can:
Develop a deeper understanding of the students’ comprehension of course content. Prompt and encourage students to further expand upon or change their answers, when necessary. Identify consistent gaps in student knowledge and adjust curriculum and course materials, as needed. Form a connection with their students.	Provide the opportunity to fully explain their thought processes. Foster their verbal communication skills. Mirror professional experiences, like client interactions or job interviews. Form a connection with their instructor.

Design Considerations

Though oral examinations have many positive aspects, the following must be considered when designing the assessment:

Accessibility
- It is your responsibility as an instructor to ensure that the assessment can be adapted to meet student accommodations. For example, ensure the room is accessible, add extra time or include breaks for students, use live captioning, etc.
- As a best practice, present questions in both written and verbal form and only ask students one question at a time.
Due to the lack of anonymity, students are at greater risk of discrimination and bias based on language skills, gender, age, disability, and other social identities.
Students may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the process and experience additional nervousness or anxiety.
The process can be time-consuming and logistically challenging (although it eliminates time spent creating and grading papers or written exams) and may not always be suitable for very large courses. Depending on the size of the class or the type of oral examination chosen, the following are ways to scale for larger groups:
- Select a sample of students to participate in the oral assessment. This can be done at random or based on assessments deemed to require further follow-up.
- Use an oral assessment as an extension of course assignments. Students will be, at random, required to participate in an oral assessment that follows one course assignment.
- Make the oral examination optional or a bonus assessment. This not only removes some stress for students, but also makes it more universally designed, as students can choose the evaluation type that suits them best.
- Train teaching assistants (TAs) to implement and grade the assessment. Please note that this approach would be most successful when recorded and paired with a clear rubric, prompts, and time dedicated to calibrating grades afterwards. These steps help to prioritize accountability and consistency across the assessment.

Implementation Considerations

To ensure smooth implementation, for both instructors and students, consider the following:

To help relieve student nervousness or anxiety, familiarize students with the process beforehand. They should know exactly what to expect throughout.
Give students an opportunity to practice the format during a tutorial or class (i.e., in a formative, non-graded context).
Have a rubric or a space to take notes during the assessment for each student. This ensures that you have something to reference if a student has questions about their grade.
You may record the assessment, but you must get consent from the student beforehand and delete the recording according to the university’s data retention policies.
Set aside time to write feedback and assign grades after the assessment, while the information is fresh.

Examples

There are numerous ways to implement oral examinations. We have compiled some potential types:

Add-on or check-in for another assessment

The add-on or check-in style can provide students with the opportunity to improve their grade and further demonstrate their understanding. It can be paired with most types of written assessment, like an exam or an essay.

For example:

Set meeting times for students after a midterm/test and provide them with the opportunity to reflect on and defend their choices for questions they got right or retry a question they got wrong or scored poorly on.
Have students “debrief” an essay or other written assessment. Assign a percentage of their grade to this debrief and have them explain their arguments or writing process and identify any gaps and potential areas for improvement in their work. This uses a similar, but less intensive, structure as a thesis defence.

Interview

Multi-question format in a short period of time.
- For example, 5 questions in 15 minutes.
Give students an outline of the types of questions to be asked beforehand (For example, a definition, a concept, a theory, an application of said theory, etc.)
Questions are randomly selected from a question bank for each student.
This type of oral examination can be done as open book. Students can reference their notes or textbook to jog their memory, but as they have limited time to find answers, they must still demonstrate familiarity with the material.

Adapted presentation

Students will present a prepared idea and be questioned on it by the instructor afterwards.
- For example, a 15-minute presentation, followed by a 15-minute Q&A with the instructor.
Rubric and clear expectations should be shared with the student beforehand.
Instructors can choose to mark on quality of presentation skills as well as the content itself.

Support

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, staff members from Teaching Support and Innovation (formerly the Centre for Extended Learning and the Centre for Teaching Excellence) are here to help. View our support page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.

Resources

Barba, Lorena A. and Laura Stegner. “The Conversational Exam: A Scalable Assessment Design for the AI Era.” Computer (Long Beach, Calif.), vol. 59, no. 6, June 2026, pp. 132–39, https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.2026.3676461.
Fenton, Andrea. “Reconsidering the Use of Oral Exams and Assessments: An Old Way to Move Into a New Future.” Educational Researcher, vol. 54, no. 7, October 2025, pp. 430–36, https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X251333638.
Joughin, Gordon. “Dimensions of Oral Assessment.” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 23, no. 4, December 1998, pp. 367–78, https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293980230404.
Ohmann, Peter. “An Assessment of Oral Exams in Introductory CS.” Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education [New York, NY, USA], 2019, pp. 613–19, https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287489.
Roecker, Lee. “Using Oral Examination as a Technique To Assess Student Understanding and Teaching Effectiveness.” Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 84, no. 10, October 2007, p. 1663, https://doi.org/10.1021/ed084p1663.
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