Fostering Inclusive Approaches to Oral Presentation Assessments: Student and Staff Perspectives on Presentation Style

Palmour, L. and Elmslie, R. (2024) Fostering Inclusive Approaches to Oral Presentation Assessments: Student and Staff Perspectives on Presentation Style. 17th Annual University of Glasgow Learning & Teaching Conference, Glasgow, UK, 09 April 2024.

Abstract

Assessment policies and practices are evolving and diversifying across UK universities due to increasing attention to social justice; the need for students to develop graduate attributes such as oral communication; and the challenges posed by AI. As part of these developments, oral assessments such as presentations are increasingly commonplace across disciplines as learning and assessment tools. However, diversifying assessment by including oral tasks does not equate to inclusive practice; what is valued in oral tasks and the implications for equity warrants close investigation (Heron et al., 2023). The University of Glasgow Learning Through Assessment Framework (2023, p.15) states that inclusive assessment treats all students equitably “throughout the assessment and feedback process”. How an oral presentation is delivered, as well as its content, is reported by some HE practitioners to be fundamental to successful performance in assessed oral presentation tasks (Heron, 2019). When aspects of delivery (voice, body language, use of prompts) factor into score-reaching decision making, it is vital to ensure that “all students have the same opportunities to perform well”. Developing such inclusive approaches to formative and summative oral assessment enhances equity and students’ wellbeing by allaying student anxiety in regard to oral assessments (Grieve et al., 2021). Furthermore, students become equipped with an awareness of inclusive oral communication which can feed forward to the workplace and wider engagement in society. This paper presents snapshots of diverse practices surrounding assessment through oral presentations. It poses a series of “provocations” in which audiences are invited to reflect on and share their own oral assessment practices in their disciplinary contexts. The evidence-based session forefronts the voices of students and lecturers using interview and fieldwork data to explore some key considerations in fostering inclusive oral assessment practices. We focus on the treatment of presentation style: body language, confidence, use of prompts and accommodating linguistic and cultural diversity in the internationalised university. In doing so, we highlight accessibility implications and reasonable adjustments in oral assessment, and their potential to enhance student well-being. We also recognise how increased oral assessment literacy has the power to improve staff well-being through increased confidence in the integrity of oral assessment.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Palmour, Dr Louise and Elmslie, Ms Rachel
• Authors: Palmour, L., and Elmslie, R.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > Language Centre

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