1. Justification:
Why is an oral examination warranted for the situation? Will
an oral examination simulate some experience that students will face in
the use or application of class material? Will the student understand
the choice of using an oral examination tool? What advantages does
it provide over other assessment tools?
2. Content:
Does the material lend itself to an “essay” style of testing?
Do you expect an answer to be descriptive/informative, or persuasive/defensive?
How will you construct the questions to help students prepare in an “oral”
mind-set?
3. Assessment Criteria:
Will the “oral performance” or “communication effectiveness” be a component
of evaluation? Will you grade only on content, or on delivery, style,
etc.? Is the examination for “practice” of a certain type of situation,
or for assessing competence in that situation? What will the assessment
tool look like?
4. Assessment Experience:
Do you have experience or training in the assessment of oral performance?
Will your assessment encourage appropriate communication skills?
Will your assessment identify important areas needed for improvement in
the communication of information or the construction of argument?
Are you a good listener? Will there be any affect on grade distribution
(i.e. deflation, inflation, etc)? How will your assure consistency
in your assignment of grades?
5. Audience Consideration:
What “audience” is the oral examination constructed to address?
Should a person who is NOT the professor of the class be able to understand
the information? Who is the student practicing for communicating
with? Will you include audience consideration as a component of the
grading?
6. Comfort:
What practice will be provided to the student in class to prepare for
this style of examination? What advice and discussion will
take place during class to deal with communication apprehension or oral
performance anxiety? What steps will you take to help students deal
with communication apprehension or oral performance anxiety during the
examination? Will you provide an example for students to reference?
7. Control:
What steps will be taken to help students feel a level of control in
their examination preparation?
8. Time:
Will there be adequate time available to examine all students sufficiently?
Will there be adequate time available to examine all students equally?
9. Prompting/Assistance:
How much will you prompt a student for a response? What types
of follow-up questions will you allow? What materials/tools will
you allow the student to use in formulating their response? When
do you start/stop probing? How long do you let a student “think”?
How will you ensure consistency in your prompting/assistance?