Vivas as replacements for written assessments in biological sciences

Here are my presentation slides from the Foundation Year Network Annual Conference (2025), verisions of which I have presented elsewhere since 2023. I have also included redacted teaching materials such as the assessor marksheets. Please contact me if you would like to discuss this work or require help introducing vivas or assessed conversations into your teaching: [email protected] Talk abstract: A viva voce is an oral examination consisting of dialogue between examiners and students; where the examiner asks question and the student replies. They are not new, however I think the context in which I introduced them into two large (200 students) Biology modules is different. Previously we used essays, lab reports and written exams, but we were aware these assessments were suboptimal given the breadth of the disciplines our students study, plus issues with AI and an increasing unease over whether traditional assessments are authentic to the workplace and a true reflection of a student's ability and effort. I faced lots of concern from staff that vivas would be impossible to do and/or bad for student wellbeing, but my experience and the feedback from staff and students has been overwhelmingly positive. Here I will discuss what I did, how I did it, and the feedback from students and staff.