Academic integrity and oral examination: an Arabian Gulf perspective

Abstract

Academic dishonesty is a major challenge facing educational institutions worldwide. Within the context of undergraduate education in the Arabian Gulf, oral assessment can help validate the originality of student work, whilst simultaneously facilitating assessment in a mode highly resonant with the region’s own educational traditions and collectivist cultural norms. The present study aims to examine student perceptions of a group-based oral examination. This was introduced as an alternative to written examinations, and as an adjunctive assessment of a course essay. Three undergraduate sections (N = 75) of an introductory psychology course at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates sat the oral examination. Participants were later surveyed about their experience immediately after the exam (prior to knowing their grade). The dominant themes to emerge from the analysis were relief, satisfaction with the process and ecological relevance. Another theme was a perception of fairness and promotion of academic integrity. The group oral exam appears to provide a well-tolerated, culturally resonant means of assessment, which also promotes academic integrity within the present Arabian Gulf context.