Charles Sturt University Engineering students complete four one-year, full-time, paid work placements during their 5.5 years of combined Bachelor of Technology/Master of Engineering studies. During their first and third work placements, students also complete four subjects, in which they are required to compile a professional portfolio claiming and demonstrating their skill development in a number of competency elements.
PURPOSEGiven the 2020-2021 pandemic and lockdowns, many institutions strived to implement assessment approaches that suited their immediate needs in conducting fair and integral online assessments. In the meantime, Interactive Oral Assessments (IOAs) have been gaining popularity due to the benefits they offer. An IOA is an authentic, scalable, interactive and timeeffective method of assessing students' achievements of the learning outcomes. This paper discusses the use of an IOA in the Professional Portfolio -Advanced subject in 2021 and presents and evaluates the outcomes of a successful implementation.
METHODOLOGYThis mixed-method study elaborates the experience of the authors in implementing an IOA in the mentioned subject and offers a reflection on the success of the IOA approach to assessing particular aspects of knowledge and experience acquisition. The arguments are supported by self-observation, comparison of the current and previous subject offerings, as well as the results of the end-of-semester subject experience survey (SES).