During an undergraduate’s journey within their educational learning landscape, the ability to talk in front of their peers or lecturers is an invaluable skill they will need within their studies and future careers. For this reason (and many more), it is imperative from the academic suite (lecturers, technical officers, academic developers and teaching assistants) to provide adequate feedback to the students based on their performance in order to improve. Adequate feedback does not entail a mere mark out of a 100%, but rather constructed feedback to ensure an improvement. Thus, the question we must ask ourselves within Higher Education (HE) is the following; “What is the assessment criteria for an oral presentation within a digitally evolving learning and teaching landscape?”
The answer is going to be highly contextual. Based on my research, I would not advocate for a generic rubric that applies across types of presentations. Certainly there may be similarities (e.g., multiple types of speaking will be rated based on how well organized the material is) but the hallmarks of success are discipline-specific. Given the integration of technology, it's important to consider the ways in which technology is (or should be) part of a presentation. For some of my class's assignments, there is no technology used; for other assignments, it's an integral part. That decision is based on the learning outcomes for the assignment.
The assessment method we choose should be aligned to what we expect a student to gain from that exercise (learning outcomes). A task specific formative assessment tool (a customized rubric) would be an ideal option. This permits us to design our assessment around the learning outcomes.
Rubric is the answer. Assessing student presentation is a tough one. I recommend a simple rubric which can be completed by both the instructor and the students.
a sample is attached
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