4. Recording the mock IOA
Students in our project highlighted how beneficial it was to have the opportunity to watch a mock Interactive Oral Assessment (IOA). These examples can be ”staged’ live in class or pre-recorded on video for the students to watch. A common approach is to ask students to use the rubric to mark the live or recorded performance. This is an effective way to familiarise students with the rubric, and help students visualise how their IOA session will run, and in so doing reduce their anxiety around a conversational assessment.
Steps
- Decide how you will vary your scenario so that the mock IOA is similar but not identical to the actual IOA you intend to run. In our project for example, while the prompts remained the same, the student in the mock IOA video was responding about a different industry/company than the one in the actual IOA.
- Decide who will feature in the video. This might be, for example, the coordinator playing the student’s role in the scenario, and another academic or educational developer playing the teacher’s role.
- Prepare your mock IOA script. Rather than writing the conversation out in full, use bullet points only to ensure the conversation feels more natural when being enacted (see examples below).
- Ensure the marking rubric is used is the same as the one that students will use in the actual IOA (although you may have to make some minor adjustment based on the parameter you altered in your mock IOA scenario). During the practice session, you may ask students to use the entire rubric to mark the mock IOA or ask them to focus on specific sections only.
- If recording the mock IOA you can use a phone camera or iPad on a stand. If you have media support, you can film the mock IOA in a studio with a simple set such as a small table and chairs.
Mock IOA examples
1: Ethical International Business Decisions (IBUS3104)
2: Management and Organisations (WORK5003)
For this mock IOA, we did not develop a script but used this slide deck that the ‘student’ had submitted earlier to the ‘CEO’ as a scaffold for the improvised conversation.
3: Behavioural Finance (FINC3023)
4: People Analytics in the 4th Industrial Revolution (QBUS5017)
Please note, there is unfortunately no video for QBUS5017. However, you can download the script below.
Alternatives to a mock IOA video
There are alternatives to the mock IOA video that you could consider to prepare your students for their IOA. You could present a mock IOA in class and have your students evaluate it with the marking rubric. You could also design activities in which your students practise responding to conversation prompts, and working with each other to discuss their performance based on the rubric.
Here are some ideas:
- Students can be assigned roles or topics and given a set time to prepare. They then perform in front of peers or the teacher and receive immediate feedback.
- One student presents or discusses a topic, while the other acts as the evaluator, using a rubric to provide constructive feedback. Afterward, roles are reversed.
- Students can record a practice conversation with a peer on a related topic or respond to practice prompts, then watch the recording to evaluate their delivery. They can use the rubric to guide their self-assessment.
Example: In-class practice session in Digital Transformation (MMGT6015)
In this practice session, students paired up with another student to practice responding to conversation prompts. Once both students had an opportunity to respond to the prompts, they provided feedback and discussed their performance based on the rubric.
IO Assessment 