Talking the Talk: Interactive Oral Assessment to Promote Academic Integrity in Large Postgraduate Teacher Education Programmes

This paper explores the use of Interactive Oral (IO) assessment in a large postgraduate teacher education programme (>100) as a means to uphold academic integrity while enhancing student learning and engagement. Amidst the growing concern from the rapid emergence of generative AI tools, this paper suggests a well-designed Interactive Oral assessment for large class teaching and learning can offer a suitable alternative to traditional examinations and promote academic integrity among students. The paper addresses the importance of robust assessment design and the potential of Interactive Oral assessments to create inclusive, sustainable, and meaningful assessments for postgraduate learners. This paper draws from recent literature exploring Interactive Oral assessment and large class pedagogy and shares illuminating results from a recent student and staff evaluation at an Irish Higher Education Institution (HEI) to build the capacity of those who teach and support teaching and learning in Higher Education large classes. Keywords: Assessment; Academic integrity; Large class; Interactive Oral Assessment; Teacher education