Author(s):
In this lightning talk, we will share the findings from a three-year study on oral exams in engineering courses and spark discussions among faculty interested in using oral exams to advance students’ learning. We will share our empirical research findings on how oral exams can be practically implemented in engineering classes as an equitable assessment and learning tool to foster students’ engagement in deep conceptual learning, as well as how to address common challenges such as easing students’ stress, grading reliability, and validity. If designed and implemented carefully, oral exams have the potential to increase students’ learning motivation, improve students’ learning of the content, and steer their learning strategies toward deeper and more meaningful learning. This research is completed by a group of 17 faculty members from multiple engineering departments, and educational researchers from the Teaching and Learning Commons at University of California San Diego. In the three-year project duration, the project group implemented over 7000 oral exams to about 3500 engineering students.
