# 148 - Oral Exams, Feedback Loops, and the Future of Assessment

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-grading-podcast-6385485/148-oral-exams-feedback-loops-and-the-future-of-assessment
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-grading-podcast-6385485/148-oral-exams-feedback-loops-and-the-future-of-assessment.md
Podcast: [The Grading Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-grading-podcast-6385485)
Published: 2026-05-12T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thegradingpod.com/podcast-test-page/148-oral-exams-feedback-loops-and-the-future-of-assessment
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/4cd8b744-8832-4dfb-8130-02e3f0a0f763.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-grading-podcast-6385485/episodes/148-oral-exams-feedback-loops-and-the-future-of-assessment
Duration seconds: 2832

## Resource

In this episode, Sharona and Boz explore what assessment might look like in a world increasingly shaped by AI. Starting with a recent article from faculty at Middlebury College challenging institutions to recenter learning rather than ranking students, the conversation moves into a provocative discussion of oral exams, authentic assessment, and the growing limitations of traditional testing. The hosts unpack a history professor’s experiment with 71 oral final exams in 12 days, reflecting on the power of conversation-based assessment to deepen feedback, strengthen trust, and reveal genuine student understanding in ways that written exams often cannot. Along the way, they connect these ideas to their own classroom experiences, the challenges AI poses for validating student work, and the need for assessments that emphasize creativity, revision, human interaction, and meaningful thinking over rote production. Ultimately, the episode argues that the future of grading reform may depend not only on changing how we grade, but on fundamentally reimagining how we assess learning itself. Links Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support! Recentering learning when we talk about grades What I learned from giving 71 oral exams in 12 days Finding Meaningful Moments in a Merger Resources The Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building. The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education…

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