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) and projects or presentations that include discussion (e.g., posters, capstone or design projects, business pitches) to better authenticate student learning and support academic integrity.

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 well across all disciplines and levels of study.

For instructors, implementing oral assessments can:	For students, participating in oral assessments can:
Develop a deeper understanding of 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:

As a best accessibility practice, present questions in both written and verbal form and only ask students one question at a time.
Due to lack of anonymity, students are at greater risk of discrimination and bias based on language skills, gender, age, disability, and other social identities. Focus your evaluation on the knowledge and skills you are assessing, not other factors.
Students may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the process and experience additional nervousness or anxiety. Consider offering students an optional practice attempt.
The process can be time-consuming and logistically challenging, although it eliminates time spent creating and grading papers or written exams. Therefore, oral assessments may not always be suitable for very large courses. Depending on the size of the class, the type of oral assessment chosen, or your goals for the assessment, the following are ways to scale for larger groups:
- Select a sample of students to participate in the oral assessment. Students may be selected at random or based on specific assignments that would benefit from additional discussion or clarification. Including some random selection can help normalize the process and reduce the perception that oral follow-up is only used when concerns arise.
- Use an oral assessment as a regular extension of course assignments. Inform students at the start of the course that they can expect to participate in at least one oral follow-up during the term. Following selected assignments, students are chosen on a rotating or random basis until all students have participated.
- Make the oral examination optional. For example, students might choose between an oral examination and a written assessment, or complete an optional oral follow-up that can supplement another assessment.
- Train teaching assistants (TAs) to implement and grade the assessment. 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, which ensures 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. This section covers 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.

Presentation with Q&A

Students present a prepared idea (e.g., case study, capstone or design project, poster) 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.
Share the rubric and clear expectations with students 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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