How Tariq Shafi, Senior Pre-Clinical Lecturer at NuMed Malaysia, supports Stage 1 Medicine students to develop oral communication skills through a staged research communication task. The approach combines formative preparation, small-group presentation, peer questions and immediate feedback to help students build confidence and capability in a supportive environment
Our challenge
Oral communication is an important part of students’ development in Medicine, but students may feel anxious about presenting their work and responding to questions from others. This creates an opportunity to support students as they practise academic discussion, research communication and giving and receiving feedback.
In the Medicine programme, students complete a range of pass/fail portfolio sign-offs as part of their progression. This creates an opportunity to design oral communication tasks that are developmental rather than high-stakes, while still making clear that students need to demonstrate key capabilities. Tariq Shafi’s practice shows how an oral presentation task can be carefully scaffolded so that students are prepared, supported and able to learn from the experience.
Our approach
Tariq works with a small mentor group of around 10 students. In Stage 1, students complete a research communication task in three stages. First, they write an abstract based on a research paper. They then develop this into an e-poster. Finally, they present their poster orally to their mentor group and answer questions from their peers and mentor.
The oral presentation is a pass/fail portfolio sign-off. Students are assessed against two criteria:
- ability to answer questions from an audience;
- ability to present a poster clearly.
Students present for around five minutes, followed by approximately two minutes of questions. The task takes place in a two-hour mentor-group session, so careful timekeeping is important. Students present to a familiar group of peers who they have worked with across the year, helping to make the setting more supportive and less intimidating. At the point the assessment takes place in March, the mentor-groups are very well established.
The task is scaffolded before the oral presentation takes place. Students are invited to share draft abstracts and posters with Tariq, who provides formative comments. This helps students improve the quality of the work they will later present, and means the final oral task is not approached in isolation.
Tariq also establishes the tone of the session carefully. At the start, he emphasises that the group are there to be kind and supportive and that feedback given will be constructive. Students are reassured that the purpose is to help them demonstrate their capability and develop their skills. This helps create a safe and supportive environment in which students can take the task seriously without feeling overwhelmed by it.
Questions and feedback are built into the session. After each presentation, peers are invited to ask questions before Tariq asks his own. Where needed, Tariq supports the level of questioning so that it is appropriate and constructive. Peer feedback is also structured: rather than asking the whole group for general comments, Tariq nominates individual students to give feedback, rotating through the group. This helps ensure that students participate and gives them repeated opportunities to practise giving feedback within a safe, supportive space.
Tariq uses the BOOST feedback model to guide feedback: Balanced, Observed, Objective, Specific and Timely. Students are introduced to this model early in the academic year as they work through their first cases. Tariq gives oral feedback during the session and records written feedback in the student’s portfolio at the same time. This means feedback is immediate, relevant and captured while the presentation is still fresh.
Tariq will continue as mentor for the same group of students into Stage 2, where this task is developed further. Students present for longer, with around eight minutes for the presentation and two minutes for questions, using PowerPoint slides. They also complete a five minute video presentation aimed at a lay audience. This extends the communication challenge by asking students to adapt how they present information for different audiences.
The impact
The staged approach helps students arrive at the oral presentation well prepared. Because they have already received formative comments on their abstract and poster, they are able to focus on communicating their work and responding to questions.
Students generally pass the oral sign-off first time. Where needed, students can resit the oral element, reinforcing the developmental purpose of the task. The pass/fail structure helps keep the focus on whether students can demonstrate the required capability, rather than on fine grading distinctions.
The approach also supports students to practise giving and receiving feedback. Peer feedback is used to highlight what has been done well, while mentor feedback adds constructive points for development. By giving feedback to others in a guided and supportive setting, students also develop their own ability to notice effective practice, frame comments constructively and contribute to the learning of their peers.
Lessons learned
This example shows the value of treating oral communication as a capability that can be developed over time, rather than as a one-off performance. Students are more likely to succeed when the final presentation is connected to earlier formative work and when they understand how each stage prepares them for the next.
The case also highlights the importance of the mentor’s role in shaping the learning environment. Tariq’s approach combines reassurance with clear expectations: students know that they are supported to pass, but they also understand that they need to prepare carefully, communicate clearly and respond to questions.
Peer participation is most effective when it is deliberately designed. By inviting students to ask questions and nominating individuals to give feedback, the session becomes a shared learning activity rather than a sequence of isolated presentations.
Finally, the approach demonstrates how pass/fail assessment can still be meaningful and developmental. The focus remains on capability, preparation and improvement, while the opportunity to resit helps maintain the supportive purpose of the task.
Tips for colleagues
To adapt this approach in another context, colleagues could:
- offer formative feedback on the preparatory stages before students present;
- use a small-group setting where students can present to peers as well as the tutor or mentor;
- set simple, transparent criteria for what students need to demonstrate;
- have clear guidance on timings for presentation, feedback and complete the formal marking elements within these timings
- give feedback promptly, while the presentation and discussion are still fresh;
- consider whether a pass/fail format, with a resit opportunity, would help keep the emphasis on development and capability.
- include a question-and-answer element so that students practise responding to an audience;
- structure peer feedback by giving students specific roles or inviting named students to comment;
- use a feedback model, such as BOOST, to keep feedback balanced, observed, objective, specific and timely;
Skills and attributes
Students were able to develop the following attributes:
Education for Life Strategy
This case study reflects the following aims of the Education for Life strategy:
- Fit for the future: To ensure our students are fit for their future, our teaching is fit for the future of our offer, and our colleagues are fit for the future of HE
Authors
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Dr Tariq Shafi Senior Pre-clinical Lecturer NUMed, Malaysia |