Meaning and Nature of Authentic Assessment PDF

Meaning and Nature of Authentic Assessment 1.1. What is Authentic Assessment Gulikers, Bastiaens, and Kirschner, (2004) define authentic assessment as: An assessment requiring students to use the same competencies, or combinations of knowledge...

Meaning and Nature of Authentic Assessment 1.1. What is Authentic Assessment Gulikers, Bastiaens, and Kirschner, (2004) define authentic assessment as: An assessment requiring students to use the same competencies, or combinations of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that they need to apply in the criterion situation in professional life. Khaira and Yambo (2005) stated that ‘authentic assessments should resemble meaningful performances in real world contexts’ and should ‘involve real life tasks With multiple solutions for the student’. According to Mueller (2006), the rationale for using authentic assessment usually springs from the idea that graduates should be ‘proficient at performing the tasks they encounter when they graduate’ therefore their assessment should require them ‘to perform meaningful tasks that replicate real world challenges. So authentic assessment has to do with students demonstrating that they know a body of knowledge, have developed a set of skills, and can apply them in a ‘real life’ situation and can solve real life problems. Authentic assessment is performance-- based and requires students to exhibit the extent of their learning through a demonstration of mastery. Mueller(2006) has described how authentic assessment differs from traditional assessment. Whereas with traditional assessment, curriculum content is determined first and assessment tasks then devised around it, with authentic assessment, the tasks students are required to perform are devised first, then the required curriculum is developed to enable students to successfully complete the assessment. In other words, ‘authentic assessment drives the curriculum’. Mueller further suggested that authenticity is a continuum, that is to say, the extent to which 1 | Page assessment is traditional or authentic depends on how closely it reflects the attributes described below. Traditional.................................. Authentic Selecting a Response -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Performing a Task Contrived -----------------------------------------------------------Real-- life Recall/Recognition-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - Construction/Application Teacher-structured -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Student structured Indirect Evidence -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ----- Direct Evidence Question for Discussion Think of an example of an authentic assessment administered by your teacher in your previous courses. Why do you considered it as an authentic assessment? 1.2 Why Authentic Assessment is Important The question "Why use authentic assessment?" is not meant to suggest that you have to choose between traditional assessments such as tests and more authentic or performance assessments. Often, teachers use a mix of traditional and authentic assessments to serve different purposes. This section, then, attempts to explain why teachers might choose authentic assessments for certain types of judgments and why authentic assessments have become more popular in recent years. Authentic Assessments are Direct Measures We do not just want students to know the content of the disciplines when they graduate. We, of course, want them to be able to use the acquired knowledge and 2 | Page skills in the real world. So, our assessments have to also tell us if students can apply what they have learned in authentic situations. If a student does well on a test of knowledge we might infer that the student could also apply that knowledge. But that is rather indirect evidence. I could more directly check for the ability to apply by asking the student to use what they have learned in some meaningful way. To return to an example I have used elsewhere, if I taught someone to play golf I would not check what they have learned with just a written test. I would want to see more direct, authentic evidence. I would put my student out on a golf course to play. Similarly, if we want to know if our students can interpret literature, calculate potential savings on sale items, test a hypothesis, develop a fitness plan, converse in a foreign language, or apply other knowledge and skills they have learned, then authentic assessments will provide the most direct evidence. Can you think of professions which require some direct demonstration of relevant skills before someone can be employed in that field? Doctors, electricians, teachers, actors and others must all provide direct evidence of competence to be hired. Completing a written or oral test or interview is usually not sufficient. Shouldn't we ask the same of our students before we say they are ready to graduate? Or pass a course? Or move on to the next grade? Authentic Assessments Capture Constructive Nature of Learning A considerable body of research on learning has found that we cannot simply be fed knowledge. We need to construct our own meaning of the world, using information we have gathered and were taught and our own experiences with the world. Thus, assessments cannot just ask students to repeat back information they have received. Students must also be asked to demonstrate that they have accurately constructed meaning about what they have been taught. Furthermore, students must be given the opportunity to engage in the construction of meaning. Authentic tasks not only serve as assessments but also as vehicles for such learning. Authentic Assessments Integrate Teaching, Learning and Assessment Authentic assessment, in contrast to more traditional assessment, encourages the integration of teaching, learning and assessing. In the "traditional assessment" model, teaching and learning are often separated from assessment, i.e., a test is administered after knowledge or skills have (hopefully) been acquired. In the 3 | Page authentic assessment model, the same authentic task used to measure the students' ability to apply the knowledge or skills is used as a vehicle for student learning. For example, when presented with a real-world problem to solve, students are learning in the process of developing a solution, teachers are facilitating the process, and the students' solutions to the problem becomes an assessment of how well the students can meaningfully apply the concepts. Authentic Assessments Provide Multiple Paths to Demonstration We all have different strengths and weaknesses in how we learn. Similarly, we are different in how we can best demonstrate what we have learned. Regarding the traditional assessment model, answering multiple-choice questions does not allow for much variability in how students demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired. On the one hand, that is a strength of tests because it makes sure everyone is being compared on the same domains in the same manner which increases the consistency and comparability of the measure. On the other hand, testing favors those who are better test-takers and does not give students any choice in how they believe they can best demonstrate what they have learned. Thus, it is recommended (e.g., Wiggins, 1998) that multiple and varied assessments be used so that 1) a sufficient number of samples are obtained (multiple), and 2) a sufficient variety of measures are used (varied). Variety of measurement can be accomplished by assessing the students through different measures that allows you to see them apply what they have learned in different ways and from different perspectives. Typically, you will be more confident in the students' grasp of the material if they can do so. But some variety of assessment can also be accomplished within a single measure. Authentic tasks tend to give the students more freedom in how they will demonstrate what they have learned. By carefully identifying the criteria of good performance on the authentic task ahead of time, the teacher can still make comparable judgments of student performance even though student performance might be expressed quite differently from student to student. For example, the products students create to demonstrate authentic learning on the same task might take different forms (e.g., posters, oral presentations, videos, websites). Or, even though students might be required to produce the same authentic product, there can be room within the product for different modes of expression. For example, writing a good persuasive essay requires a common set of 4 | Page skills from students, but there is still room for variation in how that essay is constructed. Question for Discussion Should teachers implement authentic assessment in their classrooms? Explain your answer. 1.3 Characteristics of Authentic Assessment 1. Are similar to the real work done in professional contexts and highlights situational and contextual knowledge including the acquisition of relevant professional attitudes and competencies. 2. Are performance-based and require students to demonstrate mastery of professional practices. The closer the tasks are to real practice, the greater the degree of authenticity. 3. Reflect clear alignment between desired learning outcomes, curriculum content, and future career-based knowledge. 4. Integrate required workplace skills with university academic requirements 5. Emphasize assessment for learning purposes rather than just for grading, and incorporates social, cognitive, and reflective processes of learning. 6. Are fair and free from bias so they do not advantage or disadvantage any groups of students 7. Are motivating, enjoyable, sustain interest, and are challenging, but achievable 8. Are based on criteria that have been developed with, or negotiated with students to ensure they understand the nature of the task and what constitutes quality in terms of the outcome. 9. Are focused in ways that ensure there is neither too little nor too much assessment. 10. Achieve an appropriate balance between tasks that are too complex and too simple. 11. Often incorporates self, peer, and client assessment in conjunction with academic teacher assessment. 5 | Page  12. Ensure that students have opportunities to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills needed in professional situations, as well as the cognitive and performance skills relating to graduate attributes 13. Provide clear evidence that students have achieved the desired learning outcomes 14. Require timely feedback relating to criteria that students can act upon 15. Are quite often interdisciplinary because that reflects many real world contexts Question for Discussion Choose one characteristic of authentic assessment. Elucidate or give example/s for the characteristic you have chosen. 1.4. Advantages of Authentic Assessment 1. It helps learning: Authentic assessment provides opportunities to learn through completing the task, especially where feedback is given. 2. It’s motivating for students: Authentic assessment motivates students to engage with assessment because tasks are often relevant to their future career path–students may see the point of the task and can be keen to get involved. 3. It develops a wide range of skills. Authentic assessment allows a range of skills to be developed because of the real world demands of the task. This type of assessment does not usually just focus in on a small area of abstract knowledge. Typically, the types of skills developed through authentic assessment include: Communication skills, decision making, use of digital technologies, empathy, collaboration, practical skills, management of people or resource, time management, working with uncertainty and specific presentation skills e.g. writing for a technical audience. 1.5. Challenges Of Authentic Assessment. 6 | Page  1. Designing the task can take time and imagination. Working closely with colleagues, contacts in industry and getting students involved in shaping the requirements can be helpful. 2. There is a need to make sure that students are fully supported to develop the skills that they will need to achieve the task. It’s not enough to ‘transfer’ knowledge in class and then expect students to be able to apply this without preparation. For example, if students are to be assessed in writing using a particular professional format such as a technical report, then they need opportunity to practice and engage with this format before being asked to use it in an assessment situation. Similarly, if students are expected to work as a team to deliver a real business solution, then for the purposes of assessment, you should consider how they will be supported through this to work as a team, manage their time and manage difficult real world demands of the project. 3. Not all of the students in your class may want to go on to the most common career paths. For some students the tasks presented may not be what they have in mind for the future. To assist these students, be vocal in sharing the wider benefits of the type of assessment presented and don’t focus entirely on the alignment with future professional practice. 4. It is tricky to form authentic assessment tasks in courses which are not clearly aligned to a profession. Question for Discussion If you have the choice whether to implement authentic assessment or not in your classroom, what will you choose, and why? Enrichment Activity Watch: Authentic Assessment Overview Center on Transition Innovation, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhEILBPApdI&t=256s 7 | Page Question for Discussion What other insights on the importance, characteristics, advantages and challenges of authentic assessment did you learn from the video? Summary Authentic assessment is a set of methods or techniques for assessing the academic achievement of a student that includes activities requiring the application of acquired knowledge and skills to real- world situations and that is often seen as an alternative to standardized testings. Authentic assessment is important because it enables students to apply knowledge and skills in the real world, allows students to construct their own learning, the same authentic task is used to measure the students' ability to apply the knowledge or skills and asa vehicle for student learning; and it gives students freedom on how they will demonstrate what they have learned. ★ Authentic assessment is realistic, requires students’ judgment and innovation, asks the student to “do” the subject,replicates or simulates the contexts in which adults are “tested” in the workplace or in civic or personal life, assesses the student’s ability to efficiently and effectively use a repertoire of knowledge and skills to negotiate a complex task, allows appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practice, 8 | Page consult resources, and get feedback on and refine performances and products. Authentic assessments are likely to be more valid than conventional tests, particularly for learning outcomes that require higher-order thinking skills. Because they involve real-world tasks, they are also likely to be more interesting for students, and thus more motivating. And finally, they can provide more specific and usable information about what students have succeeded in learning as well as what they have not learned. However, authentic assessments may require more time and effort on an instructor’s part to develop, and may be more difficult to grade. 9 | Page