I award five points for each correct oral explanation. Today, my students can't slip by. They are accountable for learning something. You can't lie, cheat, or steal your way through an oral assessment. You either know what you've learned or you don't.
Oral defense allows for clarity and individualized instruction.
It reduces cheating. Even the student who copies the answers to a book assignment will have to study that material so they can defend it orally and receive credit. Therefore, to earn points, actual learning is required. Kathie Nunley is an educational psychologist and secondary school teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is the author of several books and article on teaching in mixed-ability classrooms, and she is the developer of the Layered Curriculum method of instruction.