Viva (35%)
1 Individual Viva-Voce
1.1 What is a Viva-Voce examination?
The Viva-Voce, or viva, replaces a traditional final exam. A Viva-voce (Latin for ‘with the living voice’) is a more interactive, engaging form of assessment. Vivas are often reserved for higher levels of study and are more demanding in terms of academic manpower. However, vivas are an essential feature of assessments in SPS.
Viva-voce examinations present a different approach to assessing student learning than written examinations, as examiners can directly interact with students and clarify and evaluate students’ understanding and skills at a much deeper level. Beyond conceptual understanding, these examinations can also assess soft skills such as problem-solving and scientific communication, where students can be prompted to elaborate on or defend their ideas(Sayre 2014; Markulis and Strang 2008). In that sense, viva examinations have the potential to serve as both an assessment for and an assessment of learning(Iannone and Simpson 2015).
1.2 Objectives of the 73 Viva-Voce
By the end of the semester, you will have acquired and practiced many skills. These include technical skills (e.g., Python, Git, Jupyter), science and problem-solving skills (e.g., computational thinking, Applications Challenge, Mini Project), and communication skills (e.g., presentations).
The 73 Individual Viva-Voce assesses your mastery of the course content, focusing on the Group Mini Project and the Applications Challenge. It evaluates your ability to apply your acquired knowledge and skills to problem-solving. The assessment goes beyond simple knowledge recall, requiring you to demonstrate deeper comprehension by adapting and expanding your code and justifying your choices based on the material learned in the first half of the semester.
1.3 What will you gain from the Viva
Two-way Assessment Platform: The viva, being a discussion between the student and the examination panel, offers numerous opportunities for real-time clarification and immediate feedback. You can explain, defend, and justify your strategies more clearly than in other examination methods.
Mimics Interview Scenarios: The viva is excellent practice for job interviews, providing an interactive examination environment with face-to-face communication. This experience will enhance your critical thinking and also develop communication skills. It will prompt you to craft thoughtful and coherent responses.
1.4 What to expect
Here are some of the types of questions that may be asked:
- What is the significance of line 10 of your code?
- Why did you use a
forloop instead of awhileloop? - Can you change your function so that one of the arguments is optional?
- Can you use your strategy to solve a similar equation like…?
- What is the scientific rationale for that line of code?
1.5 Other matters
- All the viva sessions will be recorded for grading purposes.
- You can use any reasonable resource you like during the viva. However, you cannot message your friends or use a service like ChatGPT (because your friends or chatGPT are not being examined, dah!).
- You can bring anything (books, notes, laptop…) you like.
- You do not have to bring a copy of your Jupyter Notebook; we will have your submitted one ready.
1.6 Designing this assessment
With a total mark allocation of 35%, the Individual Viva is the weightiest assessment component in 73. Due to this importance, I asked the help of the dynamic duo of Kellie Wong and Kelissa Goh, under the supervision of Linda Sellou, to conduct a study on Viva-voce assessments. The main intention of this study was to gather information to create an environment that is friendly, inclusive, fair, and conducive to your learning. In addition to a thorough literature survey, Kellie and Kelissa conducted focus group discussions with SPS mentors to hear their thoughts and experiences taking and grading viva assessments. The findings of this study have informed the instructions (to you and the examiners), the workflow, and the rubric you see below.
The version of rubrics below were consolidated by Chee Onn Ku based on feedback from previous viva cycles to ensure alignment, fairness, and clarity for both graders and students.
2 Grading
Main Rubric
| Criteria (Weight) | Needs Improvement | Satisfactory | Good | Accomplished | Distinguished |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computing Knowledge (50%) | ■ Shows limited understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires extensive guidance |
■ Shows acceptable understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires significant guidance |
■ Shows good understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires some guidance |
■ Shows in-depth understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires minimal guidance |
■ Shows excellent understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires no guidance and is independent |
| Application of Knowledge and Extended Thinking (40%) | ■ Struggles to apply knowledge and critical thinking to problems ■ Requires extensive guidance |
■ Applies some knowledge to problems but lacks depth ■ Requires significant guidance |
■ Applies knowledge and critical thinking to problems ■ Requires some guidance |
■ Applies knowledge and critical thinking to problems effectively ■ Requires minimal guidance |
■ Applies and extends knowledge and critical thinking beyond problems effectively ■ Requires no guidance and is independent |
| Communication (10%) | ■ Communicates unclearly and ineffectively | ■ Communicates with limited clarity and effectiveness | ■ Communicates with some clarity and effectiveness | ■ Communicates clearly and effectively | ■ Communicates with excellent clarity and effectiveness |
Viva-Voce 1 Additional Recommendations
| ■ Revisit and practise core computing concepts | ■ Familiarise yourself with data structures and operations to develop fluency with Python syntax | ■ Understand external or borrowed code before using it | ■ Debug systematically by tracing code line-by-line and using print statements | ■ Stimulate code mentally by building the habit of tracing code line-by-line |
| ■ Organise your thoughts and structure your solutions | ■ Verbalise your thought process and walk the graders through your approach and reasoning | ■ When unsure, clarify with the graders | ■ Express confidence when speaking |
Main Rubric
| Criterion | Needs Improvement | Satisfactory | Good | Accomplished | Distinguished |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific Knowledge (15%) | ■ Shows limited understanding of scientific principles and methods ■ Requires extensive guidance |
■ Shows acceptable understanding of scientific principles and methods ■ Requires significant guidance |
■ Shows good understanding of scientific principles and methods ■ Requires some guidance |
■ Shows in-depth understanding of scientific principles and methods ■ Requires minimal guidance |
■ Shows excellent understanding of scientific principles and methods ■ Requires no guidance and is independent |
| Computing Knowledge (25%) | ■ Shows limited understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires extensive guidance |
■ Shows acceptable understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires significant guidance |
■ Shows good understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires some guidance |
■ Shows in-depth understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires minimal guidance |
■ Shows excellent understanding of computing principles, syntax, and methods ■ Requires no guidance and is independent |
| Application of Knowledge and Extended Thinking (50%) | ■ Struggles to apply knowledge and critical thinking to problems ■ Requires extensive guidance |
■ Applies some knowledge to problems but lacks depth ■ Requires significant guidance |
■ Applies knowledge and critical thinking to problems ■ Requires some guidance |
■ Applies knowledge and critical thinking to problems effectively ■ Requires minimal guidance |
■ Applies and extends knowledge and critical thinking beyond problems effectively ■ Requires no guidance and is independent |
| Communication (10%) | ■ Communicates unclearly and ineffectively | ■ Communicates with limited clarity and effectiveness | ■ Communicates with some clarity and effectiveness | ■ Communicates clearly and effectively | ■ Communicates with excellent clarity and effectiveness |
Additional Recommendations
| ■ Revisit and practise core computing concepts | ■ Understand external or borrowed code before using it | ■ Debug systematically by using print statements or checking outputs of intermediate steps | ■ Run and experiment with your code first to solve the task | ■ Balance self-reliance with effective use of external resources |
| ■ Read documentation and use help function to understand the code better | ■ Break down complex problems into manageable steps and solve each in turn | ■ Organise your thoughts and structure your solutions | ■ Verbalise your thought process and walk the graders through your approach and reasoning | ■ When unsure, clarify with the graders |
| ■ Express confidence when speaking | ■ Be concise and focused in your responses |