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Abstract This WIP qualitative research paper explores faculty experiences with implementing oral exams in high-enrollment undergraduate engineering courses at a research university. With a primary goal to improve conceptual mastery, as well as a desire to ensure academic integrity in the sudden move to remote instruction at the height of the pandemic, a group of faculty in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments implemented oral assessments in their own engineering courses across several quarters. They formed a research group with educational developers in a teaching and learning center on campus, and investigated the impact of oral assessments on student learning, as well as the impact on faculty. To examine the impact on faculty, 90-minute semi-structured interviews were conducted with six faculty members to explore how the implementation of oral assessments informed: 1) Their perspectives of teaching and learning and their teaching practices; and 2) how oral assessments contributed to faculty/student interactions with undergraduate students in their courses and graduate student Instructional Assistants. Applying growth mindset (Dweck, 2006) as a framework, data were analyzed by using grounded theory guidelines. This WIP paper highlights how the growth-oriented mindset of faculty enabled student-centered instructional design for deeper conceptual mastery, connections between students and the instructional team, and faculty's own growth in their teaching journey (or, reflective teaching practices). It also highlights the benefits and challenges experienced by faculty and recommendations for implementing oral assessments for others interested in implementing oral assessments for similar purposes. We would like this WIP paper to be considered for a poster presentation at ASEE 2024.
Kim et al. (Sat,) studied this question.