Oral assessment is ideal for evaluating students' learning outcomes

Photo: File

Students leaning in the classroom

 By News Agency , Agency

IN order to improve the teaching and learning process it becomes necessary to

know what has been achieved first. There are various methods of assessment which a teacher can use depending on their objectives. This is because competence of learners can be viewed in different aspects such as writing and speaking.

The quality of learners is assessed by different individuals who use different parameters all of which the teacher should consider so as to retain their credibility.

Students learn in different ways. Assessment itself can provide opportunity to learn depending on the way it is conducted. There are teachers who prefer conducting written tests as an assessment method. Although this method is good as it assesses writing skills but it is time consuming because a teacher will need to supervise the doing of the test, find the time to mark and then doing correction in class. 

But the same test questions can be turned into questions that will orally be asked in class and assess the understanding level of learners in a short period of time and eventually making necessary corrections as usual. The assessment becomes open and hence giving chances for learners to compete as they are eager to defend their status in class.

Assessing students through oral questions method is more suitable for candidate classes which in most cases have the shortest time period in a particular year of study before they sit for the final examinations. The aim is to make learners ready for examinations. 

There are students who cannot concentrate effectively on their own. They need to be pushed to think. With this kind of learners oral questions followed by answers provide a joint revision opportunity. The teacher may do a good job of teaching but if they do not make a follow -up less can be reaped.

Oral questions method of assessment becomes the method which teachers cannot spare because it gives an opportunity for the teacher to both assess and teach at the same time. This method is more interactive than other methods as an answer of a certain learner can spark a discussion which will broaden understanding of the entire class. Teachers should value the oral questions method of assessment because of the following reasons.

The first reason is quick feedback. The oral questions method of assessment provides the quick feedback as within seconds the response of the learner can be known. As the teacher quickly knows the understanding of the learner is as they can do something to either correct or encourage learners to keep on studying hard. The quick feedback enables the teacher not to continue putting much effort on concepts that learners have already mastered. The efforts are now directed to complex concepts which require much time.

The second reason is wider coverage. With oral questions method of assessment the teacher can assess many concepts or topics in a short period of time. The wider coverage in assessment helps the teacher to plan their teaching well. It is hard to improve the teaching and learning process without having feedback of assessment. For assessment to be of value it must cover a wider scope in the teaching and learning of required contents. The oral questions methods of assessment suffice this thirst of the teacher to assess learners in many areas of study so as to be confident in their teaching mode.

As the normal test is limited in terms of number of questions, in the oral questions assessment the case is different as the teacher can ask many related questions within a short period of time, thus stimulate learning. Improvement in the way learners study is sometimes by showing their areas of weaknesses so that they can go and work on them.

The oral questions method of assessment helps to boost confidence of learners. Confidence of an individual cannot improve if they do not talk in front of others. The oral questions method of assessment gives learners an opportunity to talk before others and hence improve their confidence. A successful scholar must have self-confidence. If any practice in the teaching and learning process aims at building confidence to learners it can be counted as success.

Again, oral questions method of assessment helps to promote critical thinking. As oral questions method of assessment allows interaction among learners an individual who attempts to answer a question may face challenges from other learners making them think more critically. Critical thinking is among attributes that a successful scholar must possess because rationalism is among the sources of knowledge. We need rational individuals.

In most cases teachers find themselves under pressure to accomplish the set objectives in limited time. This situation makes them struggle to find a way which will enable them increase efficiency. Oral questions method of assessment becomes the simple to administer and if well conducted quick results can be seen. Teaching is asking oral questions.