Oral formative assessment as a means to increasing total learning and engagement in an engineering university classroom

Oral assessments used in a university engineering classroom can be a valuable tool in increasing student motivation and total learning as well as aiding instructors in understanding the progress of their class and staying connected with their students. This paper explores the effects of implementing oral assessments in a junior level numerical methods course for engineers over two semesters. Changes in course structure are explained as well as observational and survey results. When biweekly written assessments were replaced with oral assessments, students were found to be more engaged, make better use of feedback to make progress, and perform better on a final written exam and overall in the class. Instructors were better able to follow the progress of their class, give more detailed and individualized feedback, and adjust content level based on the students in their course. Oral assessments proved to be an effective tool to aid students in developing exam preparation, active discourse, and self-evaluation.