Australian university uses ancient exam technique to outwit students cheating with ChatGPT and AI

As AI threatens academic integrity, this university lecturer has revived a centuries-old examination technique that ChatGPT cannot crack.

In a world where ChatGPT and AI tools are becoming more prevalent among students, universities were left grappling to find a solution.

Some professors believe they have found the antidote in a simple, ancient tradition.

An oral exam – known in academia as viva voce, which is translated into English as “by word of mouth” – has made a comeback among some teachers as a foolproof way to combat chatbots.

UniSA has introduced oral exams into its curriculum as the use of AI rises. Picture: NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

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Dr Chris Della Vedova, a lecturer of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at the University of South Australia has reintroduced arguably “the oldest method” of testing into the classroom when the pandemic forced teachers and students to work from home.

“I didn’t have a lot of faith in the results of exams during lockdown because there was nothing we could do to stop students from using whatever resources they had available to them,” Dr Della Vedova told The Advertiser.

“As a result, we changed the exam to what we’re calling an interactive oral assessment.

“Then with the rise of generative AI, this type of assessment has become even more valuable because students don’t have access to their computer or their phone where they could just type in the question and get ChatGPT to give them the answer.”

The oral assessment is conducted without a panel or an audience.

A one-on-one interaction between the lecturer and the student covers about five questions based on the semester’s course content in less than 20 minutes.

Dr Della Vedova said oral exams allows him to “assess the depth and breadth” of the student’s understanding.

“This type of assessment can better determine how well the student understood the teaching because (the assessor) has the opportunity to ask follow up questions,” he said.

“You can ask them an initial question and a lot of times what will happen is that they’ll just give you a memorised textbook answer but you can then hone in on that and actually tease apart what is memorised and what they actually understand.”

Dr Chris Della Vedova completing an oral exam with one of his students.

Dr Della Vedova said students were originally feeling nervous about the unfamiliar assessment but after they were given opportunities to practice – most preferred oral exams.

It was also beneficial for international students or students who speak English as a second language because they had the opportunity to clarify questions before committing to an answer.

And from a teaching staff point of view, there were concerns oral exams would be too time consuming; but Dr Della Vedova says in his experience, he finalises the mark as the student walks out the door.

At the same time Dr Della Vedova said his course ensures to incorporate AI learning to best prepare students for the evolving world.

Originally published as Australian university uses ancient exam technique to outwit students cheating with ChatGPT and AI