Student conceptions of oral presentations

Abstract

A phenomenographic study of students' experience of oral presentations in an open learning theology programme constituted three contrasting conceptions of oral presentations-as transmission of ideas; as a test of students' understanding of what they were studying; and as a position to be argued. Each of these conceptions represented a combination of related aspects of students' experience, namely, their awareness of the audience and their interaction with that audience, how they perceived the nature of theology, affective factors, and how they compared the oral presentation format with that of written assignments. The conception of the presentation as a position to be argued was associated with a particularly powerful student learning experience, with students describing the oral presentation as being more demanding than the written assignments, more personal, requiring deeper understanding, and leading to better learning. The study draws our attention to the various ways in which students may perceive a single form of academic task and their need to develop their understanding of assessment formats.

Students' perceptions of assessment in undergraduate mathematics

“…As for assessment methods which are perceived to test understanding over memory, oral examination is perceived by our students to be the method which most dominantly assesses understanding, followed by closed-book examination. Interestingly, this finding resonates with some of the research on oral assessment where this method is found to be beneficial for students in terms of engagement with the subject being studied (Huxham, Campbell and Westwood 2010), and where it is perceived by students to require deep understanding (Joughin 2007). The assessment method perceived to test understanding the least is multiple choice questions.…”

EFL College Students’ Perceptions of the Difficulties in Oral Presentation as a Form of Assessment

“…Studies of oral assessment have occasionally noted the potentially inhibiting role of anxiety in affecting students' ability to perform (Joughin, 2007). To investigate the effect of personal traits on performance and specifically, to find out how students' status and familiarity with English language affect anxiety level, Elliot and Chong (2004) solicited the opinions of first-year university students in Australia and found that one third of the sample had a high or very high level of presentation anxiety.…”

“…Although oral presentations have been extensively researched, most of the earlier research looked at them in the context of other activities (Akindele & Trennepohl, 2014), and a large number of studies investigated the effect of anxiety on oral performance (Joughin, 2007). Some studies looked at student opinions of oral presentations compared with written assignments (Akindele & Trennepohl, 2014), others on how competence is compared to performance in oral presentations (Alwi & Sidhu, 2013).…”

“…Joughin (2007) adds that we can look at oral presentation from three perspectives: presentation as a transmission of the ideas of others to a passive audience with anxiety at a low level, presentation as an imparting of the material studied from which students seek to make their own meanings from the ideas of others; and presentation as a position to be disputed and defended by persuading the audience. In the second perspective, the audience is actively judging students' performances, and students reply to audience questions.…”

The introduction and refinement of the assessment of digitally recorded audio presentations

“…It has also been found that the preparation and deliver y of oral presentations can build students' confidence and can have a positive impact on the quality and depth of students' approaches to learning (Higher Education Academy [HEA], n.d.; Joughin, 1999, pp. 151+154;Joughin, 2007;Race, 1995). Furthermore, there is strong evidence to suggest that a combination of oral and written forms of assessment can lead to fairer, more inclusive assessment as it allows students to be rewarded for a broader range of skills (Hanafin et al, 2007, p. 442;HEA, n.d.;Hockings, 2010, p. 34;Race, 1995;Vleuten, 2014;Waterfield & West, 2006).…”