Example Case Study 3: Assessing learning and exchanging feedback

Background

Given the ubiquitous and unstoppable use of AI for assessments, I am trying to include a core series of oral presentations, in line with recent global pedagogic trends [1],[2]. Last term I implemented a requirement that each student had to present two weekly assessments throughout the term, with a simple 5-minutes presentation at the beginning of the class.

Evaluation

Although many students engaged with this activity, a couple of issues appeared:

1. It was not clear how is an oral presentation relating to the learning outcomes of the class.
2. Some students wouldn’t come to class for several weeks, so I had to squeeze their presentations for the last week, taking most of the final session that had a different goal.
3. Some students said to have felt high levels of anxiety with having to present in front of the class, especially the ones not feeling confident with their English speaking skills.

Moving forward

For the following academic year, there is a couple of points to reflect and point out.

1. Learning Outcomes: Adding oral communication as a learning outcome to the unit would be a straightforward way of including presentations. However, we might have a broader conversation in our programme regarding this. The main point is: just as “writing communication” is not always a learning outcome in units that use mostly written assignments, one thus could argue that oral presentations are merely a format of presentation, not particularly a learning outcome (although, of course, there are units where this could be specially tackled).
2. Organisation and scheduling of presentations: It might be helpful to decide at the beginning of the term who is going to present when, instead of just asking them to do it anytime during the term. This will also help avoiding the last session with many students presenting.
3. Attendance: Although, of course, we can’t force attendance, I think that oral presentations are a way of improving attendance. However, for students that might have particular – and maybe serious – issues with presenting, I can always add an alternative assessment. This assessment could be made in such a way that still encourages attendance. For example, it could be around filling in an activity that we run in class, so if they attended they have already half of the work done.

[1] Frate, S. D., & Rote, A. E. (2026) Oral Examinations as an Alternative to Written Exams in Health Sciences Education: A Targeted Response to AI Challenges. Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 2026.

[2] Barba, L. A., & Stegner, L. (2026). The Conversational Exam: A Scalable Assessment Design for the AI Era. arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.10691.