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Authentic conditions for authentic assessment: Aligning task and assessment
Abstract
Despite major discussion and consideration of authentic assessment through the 1990s, little progress appears to have been made towards its widespread adoption in higher education. Universities often serve to limit the use of authentic approaches in learning tasks and assessment, through restrictive policies. In this paper, we briefly review the literature and summarise the characteristic elements of authentic assessment, and argue that task, assessment and university policies must be aligned for truly effective use of authentic assessment to occur in higher education. Authentic assessment in higher education: A major issue If exploring alternative approaches to assessment was 'one of the major issues of the decade' in the 1990s (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1993), it could be argued that higher education teachers in the current decade are scarcely more informed when it comes to the practical implementation and use of alternative, authentic assessment methods. Innovative and appealing ideas about a range of alternative assessment methods have been espoused over the last decade, perhaps in response to the challenges and opportunities offered by new technologies, in particular, online learning (Reeves, 2000). Because online courses are not constrained by the requirement for fixed and regular timetabled classes, they allow teachers to use more complex and sustained, product-based assessments. As is often the case with technology-based learning (Mioduser, Nachmias, Oren, & Lahav, 1999), just as these doors were opening, further developments were reducing opportunities, with the widespread adoption of course management systems. Such systems, most noticeably in their early years, enticed teachers to design their courses in weekly segments with regular assessments that were often easily marked on a computer, such as multiple choice tests. While innovative teachers have always been capable of finding ways around these limitations, the overall movement to more authentic forms of assessment has clearly been compromised, or at least delayed.
... The students' initial motivation to speak in English for most students at school was identified all very low. Generally, the students were afraid of making any mistakes to speak in English that affected their motivation and self-confidence to speak (Herrington & Herrington, 2006;Rennert-Ariev, 2005). A preliminary observation identified that the students tend to keep silent when they were asked to speak in English. ...
The Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture published the 2013 Curriculum which demands teachers to apply authentic assessment as the method of assessing the students’ competence. Point to that, the implementation of authentic assessment as well as its washback should be investigated. For that reason, this study is trying to investigate: (1) authentic assessments applied in English teaching and learning, (2) the types of authentic assessment used, (3) the teachers’ difficulties in applying authentic assessment, (4) washback effect of the use of authentic assessment. This study applied qualitative design to capture the implementation of authentic assessment. Observation, documentation, questionnaire, and interview were carried out to get the data. The subject are English teachers and the students. The results showed that the authentic assessment applied in English teacher class of SMP N 6 Semarang, especially in eighth grade is in the level good. The teachers had applied authentic assessments in the teaching and learning process. The types of the authentic assessments were oral interview (in speaking test), story or text retelling (in speaking), writing sample (in writing test), and experiment or demonstration. Furthermore, relating to the washback of authentic assessment, it has been confirmed by the teachers that its implementation can improves the student’s English learning achievement. On the other hand, teachers also faced some difficulties in applying authentic assessment due to their lack of knowledge of authentic assessment.
... AL is a multidisciplinary approach that allows students to explore and construct concepts and relationships in the context of real problems (Herrington & Herrington, 2006). Lombardi (2007) defined AL as an effective teaching strategy in that it allows students to make connections between existing knowledge and discover new knowledge in context. ...
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between creative self-efficacy (CSE), rational experiential thinking, and cognitive flexibility thinking skills, and authentic learning self-efficacy (ALSE) as a result of authentic learning (AL) activities in educational online social networks. The participants of the research are 102 university students. The study group was determined by a convenient sampling method. Variance-based PLS-SEM using partial least square was used to examine the relationships between research variables. According to the research findings, it is seen that cognitive flexibility in online social networks has a significant effect on experiential ability and rational favorability. Findings show that rational favorability has a positive and significant effect on CSE. Research findings indicate that personal variables such as gender, age, and academic success perception do not have a significant effect on CSE in learning that takes place in online social networks. It was evaluated whether CSE has an effect on online ALSE, and it was found that other sub-dimensions other than “keeping up with technological advancements” are significant.
... [16,19] In most of the previous studies, students preferred the online mode of examination where the online examination was implemented after adequate preparation and with proper infrastructure, in a secured website, using MCQ-based questionnaire within well-structured examination centers. [1,17,[20][21][22] In particular, the OA was preferred by students when it was conducted in the university's own server system or web-based learning management system; using randomized MCQ type questions, feedback and score with item analysis was provided immediately after the examination. [17,21] Other reasons for preference of these types of online examination were-high security, support for computer glitches, appropriate Internet support and almost no provision of using unfair means. ...
Background: Assessment has a very important role in curricular development by motivating students and target setting, providing appropriate feedback and quality assurance. During COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown, most of the medical schools throughout the world including India had to undergo a paradigm shift from face to face to online mode in medical education and assessment. This study was planned to assess and analyze the perception and opinion of 1st-year medical students from all over the country regarding the online assessment (OA) process that emerged during the COVID 19 pandemic. We also tried to find out the preferred resources that the students wanted to access via online mode and any major hindrance they faced. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional, Internet based, online survey conducted on 1st year medical students from all over India. Result: Students preferred the traditional (face to face) examinations over the OA in terms of usefulness, motivation, answering long answer questions, adequacy of allotted time, and ease of performance. However, they favored OA in terms of examination anxiety, examiner bias, and answering the objective type of questions. The lack of good Internet connectivity was considered a major hindrance. Conclusion: This information might be helpful for respective authorities to establish an effective online platform which could deliver an authentic and valid OA in future during any crisis.
... Lynn Vos examines the educational value of marketing simulation games in Chapter 5. Along with other authors in this collection, Vos grounds her teaching recommendations within an explicit pedagogical approach. Authentic learning recommends applied tasks that can lead to deeper learning when students are given sufficient practice, challenge, formative feedback and time for reflection (Newmann et al., 1996;Gulikers et al., 2006;Herrington and Herrington, 2006;Ashford-Rowe et al., 2014;Lincoln and Cassidy, 2018;Villarroel et al., 2018). Marketing simulation games are by nature active learning tools that mirror elements of real-world business decisions while removing the main risks associated with decision making in practice, and thus simulations fulfil a core requirement of authentic learning -a simulated experience from the work environment that can develop students' higher-level thinking skills. ...
... Research in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education indicates that assessments based on authentic scenarios improve students learning experiences, motivation and workforce readiness. 22 The Australian Universities Teaching Committee and the National Department of Education and Training's Best Practice Principles for curriculum development in professional postgraduate programs include the need to: ...
Authentic conflict scenarios are an essential basis for learning activities and assessment tasks in the conflict management and resolution field. Authentic scenarios allow students to apply theories and skills to realistic situations, enhancing their learning experiences and workforce readiness. However, finding suitable conflict scenarios for use in teaching and learning is challenging due to a) Confidentiality : limiting the types of conflicts that can be used; b) Evolving resources: conflicts already in the public eye are often complex and continue to evolve which requires a great deal of effort by educators to update content, restricts the diversity of resources available, and makes it difficult to impartially present all aspects of a conflict in an engaging way; and c) Lack of engaging resources: fictitious scenarios are often presented in written text only, failing to provide interactive and engaging resources. In 2016, the James Cook University (JCU) Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) Program, with the support of a Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) grant, created an authentic and digitally accessible conflict scenario designed to address these challenges and deliver improved learning experiences for postgraduate conflict management and resolution students and educators. This article discusses the value of authentic scenarios to improve postgraduate student experiences and career outcomes in the dispute resolution field, the approach taken by the JCU CMR Program to develop the scenario and presents findings from preliminary feedback from students’ and educators’ experience using the conflict scenario in postgraduate course work.
... Software Engineering teaching draws from various teaching pedagogies to prepare students for their future. The focus of teaching Software Engineering has been mainly process oriented with the aim to develop problem-solving skills [13] and providing them authentic assessments to prepare them for real world projects [14]. Due to the nature of discipline, computer science students require hand-on practice to transform their knowledge to skills. ...
This paper contributes to Scholarship of Teaching and Learning by proposing a dynamic model to support subject design for Computer Science during the current Coronavirus pandemic. The proposed G-READY model borrows from the greedy algorithm, which can support quick and efficient transition of subject teaching from F2f to online mode and vice versa in the most economical and time efficient manner. This model aims to deliver adaptable, optimized learning experience to students within shortest possible time frame. The paper also offers a support repository of learning and teaching tools that can help the faculty with designing their subjects with minimal effort spent on exploration for resources. This open source repository is aimed to bring efficiency to the process of curating effective learning and teaching resources for computer science teaching and can be extended further. The G-READY model proposes a learning design that is insightful, reflective, dynamic and learning supportive.
The ability to think critically and creatively is essential for students to help them thrive in the 21st century. Creative and critical thinking can be measured through problem solving because the assessment contains tasks that require students to find problems, analyze and evaluate problems, and work out the solutions. Therefore, this study was designed to develop a critical and creative reading assessment model based on problem solving and test the validity and reliability of the assessment. The assessment contained problem-solving essay tests that were presented in the form of stories. The material stimulus was news item texts that focused on social problems. The data collected were in the form of mean scores of expert validity testing and practitioner inter-rater reliability testing. The assessment was tried out to 36 students. The validity of the instrument was analyzed descriptively, while the reliability of the instrument was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) with SPSS 26. The results of the study indicated that the mean score of the expert validity test was categorized high (3.74), and the result of the reliability test showed that there was no difference in the inter-rater assessment because p > .05 and the ICC obtained was excellent ( r xx = .716). It can be concluded that the assessment developed in this study was valid and reliable, and thus can be used as an assessment to improve the critical–creative reading skills which are the essential skills needed to survive and thrive in the 21st century.
Final year, undergraduate engineering students should be exposed to authentic practices that resemble industry to prepare the students for the field. Given that engineering involves design and implementation, final courses should expose students to both through authentic assessments. Case studies, design and build projects, and open-ended final exams were implemented in three, fourth-year cornerstone engineering courses in mechanical, and sustainable and renewable energy engineering. The effects of these changes differed between case study based projects and build projects. Case study based projects resulted in higher project performance and better exam performance than build projects. The improved performance is indicative of better knowledge transfer and a result of increased opportunities for discussion and collaboration between students. These results are consistent with the Ashford-Rowe model for authentic assessments; however, students were divided on the benefits of the authentic assessments. Students were more resistant to the build projects, as reported through the teaching evaluations, because of the increased work load and scheduling required for build projects. This study recommends that cornerstone courses implement case study or paper design projects and open-ended, case study-based final exams to achieve authentic assessments. The use of build design projects for cornerstone courses is not recommended.
Neste capítulo partimos do consenso educacional atual sobre a necessidade de ensinar e avaliar competências, requisito imprescindível para a construção de uma cidadania reflexiva e crítica. Mudanças têm sido propostas em especial porque profissionais da educação estão convencidos da necessidade de levar a educação em direção a um novo paradigma psicoeducacional, centrado na ideia de que todos os estudantes, ao finalizar a etapa de escolarização obrigatória, tenham desenvolvido as oito competências básicas propostas pela OCDE. Uma das transformações fundamentais dentro desse processo faz referência necessariamente à avaliação.
The impacts of cooperative and competitive efforts on problem solving were compared. In order to resolve the controversy over whether cooperation promotes higher- or lower-quality individual problem solving than does competition, 46 studies, published between 1929 and 1993, were examined. The findings from these studies were classified in 4 categories according to the type of problem solving measured: linguistic (solved through written and oral language), nonlinguistic (solved through symbols, math, motor activities, actions), well-defined (having clearly defined operations and solutions), and ill-defined (lacking clear definitions, operations, and solutions). The 63 relevant findings that resulted were subjected to a meta-analysis for purposes of integration. Members of cooperative teams outperformed individuals competing with each other on all 4 types of problem solving (effect sizes = 0.37, 0.72, 0.52, 0.60, respectively). These results held for individuals of all ages and for studies of high, medium, and low quality. The superiority of cooperation, however, was greater on nonlinguistic than on linguistic problems.
Why do many innovations fail to improve the quality of instruction or student achievement? In 1990, we began to explore this question by studying schools that have tried to restructure. Unfortunately, even the most innovative activities—from school councils and shared decision making to cooperative learning and assessment by portfolio—can be implemented in ways that undermine meaningful learning, unless they are guided by substantive, worthwhile educational ends. We contend that innovations should aim toward a vision of authentic student achievement, and we are examining the extent to which instruction in restructured schools is directed toward authentic forms of student achievement. We use the word authentic to distinguish between achievement that is significant and meaningful and that which is trivial and useless. To define authentic achievement more precisely, we rely on three criteria that are consistent with major proposals in the restructuring movement: 1 (1) students construct meaning and produce knowledge, (2) students use disciplined inquiry to construct meaning, and (3) students aim their work toward production of discourse, products, and performances that have value or meaning beyond success in school.2
In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on assessment results, as well as increasing concern about the nature of the most widely used forms of student assessment and uses that are made of the results. These conflicting forces have helped create a burgeoning interest in alternative forms of assessments, particularly complex, performance-based assessments. It is argued that there is a need to rethink the criteria by which the quality of educational assessments are judged, and a set of criteria that are sensitive to some of the expectations for performance-based assessments is proposed.
A problem for educators and the developers of interactive multimedia is the apparent incongruity between the demands of authentic assessment and the deliverables of computer‐based assessment. Lecturers wishing to use interactive multimedia are commonly limited to assessment using multiple choice tests which are easily marked by the computer.This article describes seven defining characteristics of authentic assessment which have been operationalized in a learning environment employing interactive multimedia. The article describes the multimedia program and its implementation with a class of pre‐service teachers. The implication of these findings for educational practice are that authentic assessment can be used within interactive multimedia learning environments, albeit not totally contained within the software itself. The qualitative study reported here showed that students responded favourably to the elements of authentic assessment; that they had a good understanding of the content of the interactive multimedia program; and that the assessment was corroborated by observation of teaching strategies used by the students in their teaching practice.
Current debate about assessment in higher education raises educational and political issues. Lecturers who wish to make their assessment more reliable and rigorous, as well as more effective in improving students' learning, need more than technical help to do so. This paper reports findings from an action research project which focused on assessment practice at the University of Sunderland, UK. It highlights tensions between genuine educational concerns to improve practice and more instrumental pressures, for example, to defend one's assessment practice from challenges by students, colleagues and external bodies. It is argued that improvement, rather than mere change, will require the commitment of people who possess intimate day-to-day contextual knowledge of assessment, and who recognise its educational and political complexities. The findings highlight two areas for further research: ways of inducting and involving students in an 'assessment community', and institutional staff development designed to improve assessment practice.
