The Value of Oral Assessments and Vivas in the Age of Gen AI
The Value of Oral Assessments and Vivas in the Age of Gen AI
Popi Sotiriadou, Griffith University; Dani Logan-Fleming, Torrens University/Griffith University; Henk Huijser, Queensland University of Technology & Audrea Warner, University of Auckland
UNESCO highlights spoken communication as a vital skill for navigating the complexities of the 21st century in the higher education sector. According to the McKinsey Global Institute's report, Defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work, the rise of automation, AI, and robotics are reshaping the labour market and increasing the demand for human-centered skills. Among the 56 foundational skills identified in the report, communication stands out as a crucial cognitive competency that machines cannot replicate.
Oral Assessments
Oral assessments are increasingly seen as authentic and effective tools to address emerging challenges in skills development, based on two key drivers:
discipline-based learning objectives related to employability, leading to a focus on authentic assessment; and
the rise of Gen AI tools, which challenge traditional assessment models, calling for a more innovative approach to assessing students.
Oral assessments may take various forms, such as a viva voce, Interactive Oral (IO) assessments, or an OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination). Other forms of oral assessment can include oral ‘exams’, which may be more or less authentic.
Each form of oral assessment offers different benefits and helps develop different skills. For example, viva-voce or oral presentations enhance communication and presentation skills, and critical thinking. Debates advance argumentation and persuasion skills, as well as logical reasoning. Oral exams assess knowledge, understanding, and critical thinking through spoken responses. Interactive Oral (IO) assessments offer opportunities to develop adaptability, problem-solving skills, industry-specific knowledge, active listening, and communication skills.
Communication and Employability
Although oral assessments offer clear advantages, spoken communication is often overshadowed by written tests, essays, and exams. Data from the Australian Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) Student Experience Survey (SES) reveal that domestic students consistently feel less confident and less supported in developing their spoken communication skills compared to their written abilities. In 2022, only 53.8% of undergraduates rated their spoken communication positively, compared to 68.3% for written communication. This gap is concerning, as Deloitte has reported employer dissatisfaction with graduates' spoken communication skills since 2019, underscoring the need for strong interpersonal abilities in addition to technical expertise.
The growing emphasis on skills development globally, including in Australia and New Zealand, highlights the need for more oral assessments to better prepare students for the workforce. The Australian Universities Accord Final Report notes that 75% of employers value communication, teamwork, and initiative as highly as technical skills. With roles requiring these professional skills set to expand by 2030, strong spoken communication is essential for career readiness. New Zealand’s 2024 'Education Counts' Reports and the Tertiary Education Commission's 'Skills Highway' project reinforce this priority, emphasising workplace communication and addressing literacy gaps. Expanding oral assessments is key to developing these essential skills.
The Impact of Gen AI
The emergence of Gen AI has also prompted a re-evaluation of assessment design. Some institutions have responded by reverting to examinations (including oral examinations) to safeguard academic integrity. Others have embraced the challenge by re-designing assessments to make them more ‘authentic’, personalised and context specific, in order to ‘out-design or out-run AI’. Liu and Bridgeman’s two-lane approach to assessment has shaped much of this discussion, with examples of assured learning (‘Lane 1’) in the form of viva voce exams or interactive oral assessments.
More recently, Steel’s expansion of the two-lane approach to six lanes, with varying degrees of integrated AI in assessment, and Perkins and colleagues’ Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS), have provided additional frameworks for thinking about how oral—and other—assessments can be made more reliable, relevant, and authentic.
Lodge and colleagues highlighted Interactive Oral Assessments as good practice in their November 2023 report Assessment reform in the age of artificial intelligence and the August 2024 resource, The evolving risk to academic integrity posed by generative artificial intelligence: Options for immediate action both commissioned by The Australian Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).
Concluding Thoughts
Oral assessments are gaining recognition for addressing Gen AI-related academic integrity challenges and enhancing skills development. However, their design requires careful attention to student equity, effective scaffolding to support engagement, and the formative development of spoken communication skills to ease student stress. Examiners should also plan clear timings and include breaks between assessments to prevent marker fatigue and accommodate the demands of active listening. Tailoring oral assessments to the specific learning environment, context, and students' needs are all essential for successful implementation.
Oral assessments require continuous observation, recording, and evaluation to culminate in a final grade, and moderation of oral assessments needs to be carefully considered with regards to borderline cases. Examiners require training to become aware of potential biases they may hold to ensure objective assessment. Helpfully, educator resources are now becoming more readily available, such as this Griffith University eBook, Interactive Oral Assessment; an authentic and integral alternative to examination, and this Interactive Oral Assessment: User Guide subsequently developed by Dublin City University and Griffith University.
In the broader context of higher education, scaling oral assessments effectively is essential to continue addressing PEST (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological) pressures in higher education, particularly as they relate to employability skills development and the ongoing impacts of Gen AI.
This article captures the essence of the Technology and Practice Trends section on Enhanced Oral Assessments and Vivas from the 2024 Contextualising Horizon Report. Educators from across the Australasian higher education sector identified ‘Enhanced Oral assessments and Vivas’ as a trending educational practice likely to impact the sector, during their analysis this year. The full report, including our contribution, will be published on the ASCILITE website in late November.
Popi Sotiriadou, Griffith Business School, Griffith University
Dani Logan-Fleming (SFHEA), Senior Advisor, Learning & Teaching - Centre for Learning, Teaching and Scholarship, Torrens University & Adjunct Fellow in Learning and Teaching, Griffith University
Henk Huijser, Learning and Teaching Unit, Student Success & Teaching Advancement, Queensland University of Technology
Audrea Warner, Graduate School of Management, University of Auckland