This presentation explores engagement with Interactive Oral Assessments (IOA) in the ancient language course Biblical Hebrew 1 (THL102/416). The School of Theology (SoT) cohort includes regional, remote, and metropolitan students. Many will go on to work in regional communities, often as the key biblical expert at their location. The IOA offers students the opportunity to hone the oral-communication skills required for their industry and community engagement.
IOAs also match the needs of the SoT student cohort, who tend to be older students (median age of 40 in Biblical Hebrew 1 session 202430), many of whom have not studied for a long time and are culturally and linguistically diverse. SoT subjects lean heavily on essay-based assessments, which many students struggle to write. The language subject included the additional challenge of closed-book exams.
The aim of this project was to address the challenges of retention and progression of students in this course as well as enhance their communication skills in preparation of their professional work. Therefore, a closed-book exam was replaced with an IOA. This paper discusses the results to date.
A mixed methods research approach was utilised, where quantitative data from student surveys, and qualitative feedback from student responses immediately after the IAO and six months later, and from educator observations of the IOA and subsequent student engagement.
All the students showed positive engagement in the preparation for the IOA itself, and in their learning and assessments following the IOA.
In their reflections six months on from their IOA students noted they continued to use the skills from this assessment in their learning, in industry settings and on social media.
Educators noted the ease of marking, as student capacity was immediately clear in the assessment conversations. An increase in student confidence was also observed in class and in the subsequent assessments for the 202430 cohort.
IOA is valuable in Biblical Hebrew 1. The results suggest the value is seen not only in the IOA, but also for life-long learning and professional practice. Students confidently participated in class because of their increased capacity to read Hebrew aloud and to discuss grammatical, translation, and cultural elements, which improved the results in the translation assessment. This has transferring to Hebrew 2 and to exegetical subjects.
While further tracking of this impact is needed, the students’ six-month reflections demonstrate that they are beginning to use the skills learned in the IOA in interactions with family, church communities, and on social media.
These positive results led one educator to commence the process of introducing an IOA into an exegetical subject within Biblical Studies in the immediate future.
Using IOA in Biblical Hebrew 1 has a positive benefit for students. It increases engagement and confidence while better preparing students for industry engagement than an essay or a traditional closed-book language exam would. Widening the scope of IOA within the SoT is worth future exploration, particularly given the discipline’s industry requirements and the unique needs of its student cohort.
