Oral assessment as a safeguard for academic integrity: the devil is in the detail
Introduction Academics worldwide have been forced to take a hard look at their assessment practices the context of artificial intelligence (AI). For many, oral assessment has been considered as a relatively secure and robust option, although there are ever-present concerns about the security of even this form of assessment due to the emergence of AI wearables (Corbin, 2026). Oral examinations are not a new form of assessment. Their origins can be traced back to the fifth century, when Greek philosophers such as Socrates used oral questioning to challenge individuals, stimulate deeper thinking, and promote critical reflection. By the sixteenth century, examinations, viva voce, at Cambridge and Oxford were conducted orally, in Latin, and in public (Dobson, 2018).
Read MoreSummer Series Post-Webinar Blog 5: Going Forward with Integrity, Staying Human
The fifth and final installment of the International Center for Academic Integrity’s (ICAI) Summer Webinar Series, Going Forward with Integrity, Staying Human, presented by Tricia Bertram Gallant and David Rettinger, was a fitting close to the informative series.
Read MoreSummer Series Pre-webinar Blog 5: Going forward with integrity, staying human
1) How have the ways your work in academic integrity engages with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) changed, or not changed, over the past few years? Tricia: I guess it really hasn’t changed that much? I mean, whether students are outsourcing to a friend, a parent, a contract cheating provider or a GenAI tool, they are missing out on learning, they’re misrepresenting their knowledge and skills, and they’re denying the opportunity to build their own (brain) muscle and to exercise it.
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