Knowledge chat
Let the AI bot chat with the student to assess their knowledge.
The conversational question type lets an AI bot hold a short, focused chat with the student to assess their understanding of a topic. Instead of writing one static answer, the student explains their thinking in a back-and-forth dialogue: the bot asks follow-up questions, probes for reasoning, and adapts to what the student says.
This makes it well suited for assessing understanding rather than recall. A student who has memorised a definition but cannot apply it will quickly run out of depth in conversation, while a student who truly grasps the material can demonstrate it naturally.
When to use it
Oral-exam-style assessment of a concept, without scheduling individual orals.
Probing reasoning skills: "explain why", "what would happen if", "defend your position".
Language practice, where the conversation itself is the skill being assessed.
Formative checks where you want students to articulate ideas in their own words.
How it works for students
The student sees the question prompt and a chat window. They type messages and the AI responds, guided by the conversation prompt you configure. The conversation ends when the completion criteria are met or the maximum number of turns is reached. Students should expect to spend around 10 minutes on a conversational question.
Grading
The full transcript of the conversation is graded by AI against your scoring criteria. You review the suggested scores and can adjust them, as with any AI-graded question.
Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Conversational prompt | Instructions for the AI bot: its role, the topic, and how it should steer the conversation. |
| Completion criteria | When the conversation should be considered finished (e.g. the student has explained all three causes). |
| AI starts | Whether the bot sends the first message, or waits for the student to open the conversation. |
| Max turns | The maximum number of conversation turns before the question is closed (default 10). |
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