Griffith Business School (GBS) researchers are sharing their unique assessment model with the world as a potential COVID-19 workaround for testing students online under lockdown.
Learning and teaching consultant Ms Danielle Logan and Dr Popi Sotiriadou shared their experience testing students with simulated real-world scenarios, during the recent Transforming Assessment webinar attended by local and international universities.
Dr Sotiriadou explained how she set about revitalising an inherited course to closely reflect her teaching philosophy and offer industry relevant skills through a mock job interview. Among GBS staff these types of testing scenarios are known as interactive oral assessments.
“I remember walking into the first lecture and I could not hide my excitement about the assignments. I told the students that they could choose their own organisation and relate it to their future careers and development.
“They really became collaborators in their own success,” she said.
Five years of refinement poised for the new normal
Ms Logan says GBS has expanded and adapted the interactive oral assessment model over five years and learned a great deal about what works.
According to their joint study the more relevant the assessment is to real-world scenarios the less likely students are to experience exam anxiety or engage in academic misconduct.
According to their joint study the more relevant the assessment is to real-world scenarios the less likely students are to experience exam anxiety or engage in academic misconduct.
“When the time comes, students are well prepared because they’ve been building to that moment. Students tell us that not only is it difficult to cheat, they don’t want to cheat because they know that these skills will set them up in their careers,” Ms Logan said.
She also said that the GBS assessment model wasn’t built with pandemics in mind, but can be quickly implemented by universities to meet the challenges of social distancing and maintaining academic integrity in online study modes.
“There are many benefits to our model, it can be scaled to assess hundreds of students, you can run it all at once or at different times. Our students tell us that these assessments feel more authentic and assessors hugely enjoy the process which is a great bonus.”
Related links
Watch the Authentic online oral assessment — an examination replacement webinar online.
Read more about designing interactive oral assessments, including tips and tools from GBS on implementing the model in your own teaching.