Written, oral and situational assessment

Yet another basic distinction is that between written assessment, oral assessment and situational assessment.

Written assessment. As its name suggests, this type of assessment involves producing written material of some sort - eg a written examination paper, an essay or other written (or, more commonly nowadays, word-processed) assignment, or a major piece of work such as a dissertation or thesis. Traditionally,this has been by far the most important of the three modes being examined under this heading.

Oral assessment. This involves the person being assessed being questioned by a tutor or examiner, or being assessed on an oral presentation of some sort. Both forms of oral assessment are now being much more widely used than was previously the case, particularly in the assessment of competence-based courses. Oral examinations also play a key role in the assessment of most postgraduate courses - particularly those that are research based.

Situational assessment. This involves assessing the ability of a learner to cope with a real-life or simulated situation of some sort, eg working in a training kitchen or restaurant, operating a piece of equipment or coping with a problem of the type likely to be encountered in business or commerce. Such assessment is again being increasingly widely used, particularly in the assessment of competence-based courses, where more traditional assessment methods are often of limited value.

Authorised and maintained by the Educational & Staff Development Section,

Centre for the Enhancement of Learning & Teaching

Main Index | EDSU | RGU Home