By Elizabeth LaScala, PhD
Artificial intelligence has transformed how students approach academic work. Writing, research, and revision can now be supported or generated by tools that make it harder to determine where a student’s independent thinking begins and ends. Alongside widespread access to tutoring and editing support, this shift has led colleges to reconsider how intellectual engagement is assessed. One approach gaining traction is the oral examination, a format that evaluates how students think in real time.
Thinking Under Questioning
Oral exams center on sustained questioning that requires students to explain ideas, clarify assumptions, and respond in the moment as their reasoning is tested. This conversational format makes it clear how students organize thoughts, connect concepts, and adjust when challenged. Rather than relying on rehearsed responses, students must demonstrate verbal clarity, intellectual flexibility, good judgement and composure, skills that are increasingly essential in college seminars, interviews, advanced coursework and ultimately the job market.
Preparing for Oral Exams in High School
Although oral exams are still uncommon in high school, students can intentionally build the skills these types of exams require. Preparation focuses on thinking and preparing responses aloud rather than rote memorization, practicing explaining ideas clearly, defending claims under questioning, and responding thoughtfully to challenges. Oral exams are evaluated by not only the content of responses but also how well the student remains composed when their reasoning is challenged., This is considered as important as mastering content.
Formal opportunities to practice oral exams at the high school level remain limited. One example is the Reason & Rationality Oral Exam Competition and Training Program, which mirrors the evaluative conversations students encounter in college seminars, interviews, and advanced coursework. Through guided practice and faculty led questioning, students develop verbal reasoning and oral argumentation skills, culminating in a formal oral exam evaluated by a panel. Selected results are published online, offering students a meaningful way to demonstrate intellectual engagement beyond traditional measures.
Value for Educators and Counselors
For educators, oral exams offer a rare window into how students approach ideas in unscripted settings. Live questioning reveals patterns of preparation, reasoning, and responsiveness that are often invisible in written work and contrived in work that is not generated authentically by the student alone. Over time, these insights can shape more accurate academic evaluations and support recommendation letters that are grounded in observed intellectual engagement.
Looking Ahead
As colleges reconsider how to assess intellectual engagement in an academic environment shaped by AI and outside support, oral examinations are emerging as a meaningful form of evaluation. By requiring students to explain ideas, respond to questioning, and think aloud in real time, oral exams make reasoning visible in ways other formats often cannot. High school students can prepare by practicing clear verbal explanation, responding thoughtfully under questioning, and becoming comfortable engaging with ideas in conversations with others, such as interviews with admission representatives or college alumni, teachers and counselors.
