From Essay to Evaluative Conversation: appraising the use of a viva voce assessments to engage students with feedback

Wednesday 29 January, 4pm to 5pm, Experimental Teaching Space (ETS), Main Library

In this seminar we considered the preliminary findings of an evaluation of viva voce assessment in Economics. We focused on an innovative assessment design aimed at developing students’ critical skills and debating skills in a History of Economic Thought (HET) module running at the School of Economics of the University of East Anglia.

A few successful examples of application of this practice to undergraduates are reported in the assessment literature. However, despite the positive impact that viva voce assessment appears to have on undergraduate students, and the development of their employability skills, this type of assessment appears to be under-researched and not fully conceptualised.

 

Fabio Aricò

Fabio Aricò is an Associate Professor in Macroeconomics and Director of Learning, Teaching, and Quality at the School of Economics of the University of East Anglia (UEA). He holds a MSc and PhD in Economics from the University of Warwick. Fabio’s research interests focus on Higher Education Policy and Practice, and include widening access, technology-enhanced learning, pluralism in economic education, and student self-efficacy. As Learning Gain Project Lead at UEA, Fabio contributed to a national project aimed at developing innovative active learning pedagogies based on self-assessment and peer-instruction, as well as innovative ways to evaluate their effectiveness. Fabio was awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy in 2017 for his work on student confidence and learning gain.

Fabio Aricò, Associate Professor, Macroeconomics, University of East Anglia