Using Oral Assessments to Improve Student Learning Gains

Saharnaz Baghdadchi; Curt Schurgers; Huihui Qi; Hamad Alajeel

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Assessment and Curriculum Development
Tagged Division: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48238

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Paper Authors

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Saharnaz Baghdadchi University of California, San Diego

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Saharnaz Baghdadchi is an Associate Teaching Professor at UC San Diego. She is interested in scholarly teaching and employs active learning techniques to empower students to attain an expert level of critical thinking. Her expertise facilitates students' journey towards connecting facts with practical knowledge to tackle intricate engineering challenges. She excels in crafting innovative assessments and explores their impact on enhancing students' learning outcomes and fostering an inclusive educational environment.

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Curt Schurgers University of California, San Diego

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Curt Schurgers is a Teaching Professor in the UCSD Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. His research and teaching are focused on course redesign, active learning, and project-based learning. He also co-directs a hands-on undergraduate research program called Engineers for Exploration, in which students apply their engineering knowledge to problems in exploration and conservation.

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Huihui Qi University of California, San Diego

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Dr.Huihui Qi is an Associate Teaching Professor in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, at the University of California San Diego.

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Hamad Alajeel University of California, San Diego

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Abstract

Oral assessments provide various perceived benefits, such as improving students’ technical speaking skills, probing their conceptual understanding, positively contributing to academic integrity, increasing motivation to learn, and offering a venue for students to show competency by verbally explaining the problem solutions. Compared to these perceived benefits, their effectiveness in increasing learning gains has been less explored through quantitative measurements. In this paper, we provide the results of our pilot study designed to assess the potential effect of oral exams on improving student learning. In this study, students were randomly assigned into two groups. The first group participated in the oral assessment administered early in the term, and the second group participated in the one administered close to the end of the term. The oral exam questions were based on two Take-home (TH) tests consisting of circuit design questions assigned to students a few days before each oral exam. Although all students submitted the TH tests, only students in the corresponding groups participated in the follow-up oral assessments. All students also took a written midterm exam before the first TH test and a final exam at the end of the term. The written midterm and final exam grades are used to measure the effect of oral assessments and the time of intervention on student learning. Our study findings reveal that, although the final exam was a challenging test with a lower class average compared to the midterm exam, students who completed their oral assessments early in the term experienced a smaller drop in their grades compared to those who participated in the oral assessment near the end of the term. This result suggests that oral assessments could have a positive impact on student learning gains, and the timing of these interventions affects those benefits. The standard deviations of the midterm and final exam grades in both groups were also compared to each other. For the student group who received the intervention early on, the standard deviation of the grades reduced from 29.1% on the midterm exam to 20.6% on the final exam. The standard deviation of the grades for the other student group changed from 27.1% on the midterm exam to 22.8% on the final exam. The relatively large difference in the performances of students in the early intervention group decreased at the end of the term. The data suggests that oral assessments could have a positive impact on reducing the achievement gap among students. In this paper, we will also report students’ perceptions of the oral assessments and the extent to which they found these assessments useful to their learning and their confidence in themselves and their abilities.

Citation
Format

Baghdadchi, S., & Schurgers, C., & Qi, H., & Alajeel, H. (2024, June), Using Oral Assessments to Improve Student Learning Gains Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48238

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Oral assessments provide various perceived benefits, such as improving students’ technical speaking skills, probing their conceptual understanding, positively contributing to academic integrity, increasing motivation to learn, and offering a venue for students to show competency by verbally explaining the problem solutions. Compared to these perceived benefits, their effectiveness in increasing learning gains has been less explored through quantitative measurements. In this paper, we provide the results of our pilot study designed to assess the potential effect of oral exams on improving student learning. In this study, students were randomly assigned into two groups. The first group participated in the oral assessment administered early in the term, and the second group participated in the one administered close to the end of the term. The oral exam questions were based on two Take-home (TH) tests consisting of circuit design questions assigned to students a few days before each oral exam. Although all students submitted the TH tests, only students in the corresponding groups participated in the follow-up oral assessments. All students also took a written midterm exam before the first TH test and a final exam at the end of the term. The written midterm and final exam grades are used to measure the effect of oral assessments and the time of intervention on student learning. Our study findings reveal that, although the final exam was a challenging test with a lower class average compared to the midterm exam, students who completed their oral assessments early in the term experienced a smaller drop in their grades compared to those who participated in the oral assessment near the end of the term. This result suggests that oral assessments could have a positive impact on student learning gains, and the timing of these interventions affects those benefits. The standard deviations of the midterm and final exam grades in both groups were also compared to each other. For the student group who received the intervention early on, the standard deviation of the grades reduced from 29.1% on the midterm exam to 20.6% on the final exam. The standard deviation of the grades for the other student group changed from 27.1% on the midterm exam to 22.8% on the final exam. The relatively large difference in the performances of students in the early intervention group decreased at the end of the term. The data suggests that oral assessments could have a positive impact on reducing the achievement gap among students. In this paper, we will also report students’ perceptions of the oral assessments and the extent to which they found these assessments useful to their learning and their confidence in themselves and their abilities.
AU  - Saharnaz Baghdadchi
AU  - Curt Schurgers
AU  - Huihui Qi
AU  - Hamad Alajeel
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Using Oral Assessments to Improve Student Learning Gains
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/48238
ER  -