Interactive orals (IOs) are described as a pedagogically rigorous and authentic form of assessment. However, there is little research to-date on the assessor experience of facilitating a conversation and marking ‘on the fly’, nor the student experience of thinking ‘on the spot’. This paper investigates assessor and student experiences of IOs in the context of a large Australian business school where IOs were implemented in five courses from several sub-disciplines. Participant interviews confirmed what is already known about IOs and their place as an assured assessment of learning in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) age. This study contributes to new knowledge on the assessor experience and suggests that academics will need a distinct skillset to ensure reliable and valid ‘conversational’ assessments.
Keywords
Interactive oral, business education, live marking, authentic assessment, qualitative.
Author Biographies
Adrian Norman, The University of Sydney Business School
Adrian is a Lecturer and Educatiuonal Developer at the University of Business School with the Business Co-Design team.
Stephanie Wilson, The University of Sydney
Stephanie Wilson is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of Business Co-Design (BCD). She is a Senior Fellow (SFHEA) of Advance HE (UK) and her research spans networked learning, edcuational futures, design patterns, and co-design in education.
Alison Casey, The University of Sydney
Alison is an educational development lecturer with the Business Co-Design team and has enormous enthusiasm for and long experience in teaching in all its forms. Originally a scientist, she has developed and taught curriculum in both quantitative and qualitative subjects. Her expertise is in active learning pedagogies, digital affordances, and authentic assessment.
Joanne Nash, The University of Sydney
Joanne is a Lecturer and Educational Developer at The University of Sydney Business School with the Business Co-Design team.
