2001/03/01 by Christopher Stray · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies #Evaluation of Teaching Practices
paper · doi:10.1080/09695940120033243
openalex publication_date 2001/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The typical modern examination involves the production of written answers to printed questions in a secluded physical location. In 16th century England university examinations were conducted in public, orally and in Latin, with the participation of the academic community. The paper gives an account of the shift from oral to written examinations at Oxford and Cambridge in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cambridge took the lead in this shift, largely because of the domination of its curriculum by Newtonian mathematics. Practice in Oxford began to converge in the 19th century, but oral testing was retained into the 20th century. Four factors are identified as crucial in the oral/written shift: the move from group socio-moral to individual cognitive assessment in the later 18th century; the differential difficulty of oral testing in different subjects; the impact of increased student numbers; the internal politics of Oxford and Cambridge.