What Are Authentic Assessments?
Authentic assessments are cognitively complex, performance-based evaluations that focus the context of learning on real-life situations similar to those found in the professional environment (Frey, Schmitt, & Allen, 2012). You might also hear authentic assessments referred to as workforce-relevant assessments. These types of assessments involve a shift away from traditional delivery methods such as essays to more practical applications of learned skills in a practice environment (Raymond, Homer, Smith, & Gray, 2013).
The result of these assessments is a more meaningful experience that engages critical-thinking (Poindexter, Hagler, & Lindell, 2015) and metacognitive processes through a focus on self-evaluation and monitoring (Ashford-Rowe, Herrington, & Brown, 2014). By focusing on issues and situations extracted from contemporary practice, students can learn through the delivery method or construction of the assignment in addition to the content therein (Litchfield & Dempsey, 2015). For example, the completion of an executive summary may be more valuable to a nurse completing a master’s degree with a focus on administration than a multiple-choice exam covering similar content. Learning how to complete an executive summary is a skill they will use in their new role as a nurse manager, and is an experience that is more authentic to what they will experience as a professional in the workforce.
Benefits of Authentic Assessments
When course designers and faculty speak about authentic assessments, they often speak about their value in terms of the student experience. However, faculty can also benefit from integrating authentic learning opportunities into their curriculum.
Because authentic assessments require students to have an increased level of engagement, courses that utilize authentic assessments may see the level of student engagement increase across the course. Students may be more willing to ask questions and seek help if they understand how the assessment directly impacts their performance at work.
Authentic assessments also occur at some of the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, as these assessment types often require students to understand the basics before performing tasks. Student performance on authentic assessments can result in more advanced data on a student’s understanding of a concept. Assessments inspired by industry and workplace experiences can also strengthen connections between your program and relevant industries.
Hands-on experience is how we best close the skills gap between our graduates and what the workplace is looking for in a potential employee. When asked what colleges could have done to improve their ability to get a job after graduation, graduates overwhelmingly agree that making real-world work experience part of their coursework is the most important step instructors can take (Cengage, 2021).
In particular, graduates wished they had more opportunities for school-sponsored co-ops, internships, and local mentorships. The reality, though, is not every course can contain a co-op or an internship. However, individual instructors can consider revising their curriculum to include basic workforce-relevant practices, find ways to provide greater access to mentors or working professionals, and take inspiration from local businesses for assessments.
The Development Process
Outcomes
Begin by asking yourself, “What should students know and be able to do at the conclusion of the assessment?” This question kicks off the development of all assessment types and content additions in your course.
The answer to this question will help you to develop or identify the objective to which you need to align the assessment.
It’s important to note that your authentic assessment will likely ask students to complete tasks at the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Tasks
Once objectives have been identified, you’ll then need to identify what tasks students will need to complete to complete the objective. Authentic experiences often occur in multiple parts, so you might consider scaffolding the experience across multiple weeks or modules.
Tasks might include activities like interviews, guest speakers, case studies, simulations and role play, writing or presenting to a real audience, community-partnered research, or project development.
Criteria
In order to adequately communicate your expectations and help your students understand the purpose of the assessment, you will need to develop clear evaluation criteria.
Consider: What does a good or a bad performance on each task look like? Sketching out criteria will inform your description of the assessments for students and help you identify important resources they will need to be successful, and it will also help you develop grading criteria.
Rubric
If you’re developing an assessment from scratch, consider how well you believe students will perform on the assessment. Or, if you have offered this once before and are making modifications, ask yourself, “How well did the students perform?”
Student performance, or levels of performance, when paired with your identified criteria will inform the creation of rubrics. A rubric should be provided for any tasks students will complete, graded or otherwise.
Benchmark
At this point, you have identified your objective, identified and scaffolded authentic tasks, identified supporting materials, and created a rubric that defines criteria and level of performance. Now, it’s time to consider how you will guide student performance.
Consider: How should most students perform on the assessment? This is a good opportunity for you to create (or identify) exemplars and non-exemplars of student performance. For example, if students are asked to craft a solution to a case study in small groups, provide examples of high-quality and low-quality work. Consider including an example completed rubric to help show students how the work corresponds to the grading criteria.
Run, Test, & Adjust Instruction
Running, testing, and adjusting are good practices for all facets of course design.
After running an iteration of the assessment, consider: What do students need to improve upon? Based on the answers to that question, adjust your outcomes, tasks, criteria, rubrics, or benchmarks accordingly. Then, run, test, and adjust again!
References
- Amos, L.K. (2016). Baccalaureate nursing programs. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/bsn-article
- Ashford-Rowe, K., Herrington, J., & Brown, C. (2014). Establishing the critical elements that determine authentic assessment. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 39(2), 205-222. DOI:10.1080/02602938.2013.819566
- Barber, W., King, S., & Buchanan, S. (2015). Problem based learning and authentic assessment in digital pedagogy: Embracing the role of collaborative communities. Electronic Journal of E-Learning, 13(2), 59-67.
- Chong, E.J.M., Lim, J.S.W., Liu, Y., Lau, Y.Y.L., & Wu, V.X. (2016). Improvement of learning domains of nursing students with the use of authentic assessment pedagogy in clinical practice. Nurse Education in Practice, 20, 125-130. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2016.08.002
- Carter, A. G., Sidebotham, M., Creedy, D. K., Fenwick, J., & Gamble, J. (2015). Strengthening partnerships: The involvement of health care providers in the evaluation of authentic assessment within midwifery undergraduate education. Nurse Education in Practice, 15(4), 327-332. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2015.01.013
- Coben, D., & Weeks, K. (2014). Meeting the mathematical demands of the safety-critical workplace: medication dosage calculation problem-solving for nursing. Educational Studies In Mathematics,86(2), 253-270. doi:10.1007/s10649-014-9537-3
- Frey, B. B., Schmitt, V. L., & Allen, J. P. (2012). Defining authentic classroom assessment. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 17(2), 1-18.
- Georgakis, S., Wilson, R., & Evans, J. (2015). Authentic assessment in physical education: A case study of game sense pedagogy. Physical Educator, 72(1), 67-86. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1700478916?accountid=35812
- Hensel, D. d., & Stanley, L. (2014). Group simulation for “authentic” assessment in a maternal-child lecture course. Journal Of The Scholarship Of Teaching & Learning, 14(2), 61-70. DOI:10.14434/josotl.v14i2.4081
- Litchfield, B. C., & Dempsey, J. V. (2015). Authentic assessment of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. New Directions For Teaching & Learning, 2015(142), 65-80. DOI:10.1002/tl.20130
- Poindexter, K., Hagler, D., & Lindell, D. (2015). Designing Authentic Assessment: Strategies for Nurse Educators. Nurse Educator, 40(1), 36-40. DOI: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000091
- Raymond, J. E., Homer, C. S. E., Smith, R., & Gray, J. E. (2013). Learning through authentic assessment: An evaluation of a new development in the undergraduate midwifery curriculum. Nurse Education in Practice, 13(5), 471-6. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2012.10.006
- Sabin, M., Weeks, K. W., Rowe, D. A., Hutton, B. M., Coben, D., Hall, C., & Woolley, N. (2013). Safety in numbers 5: Evaluation of computer-based authentic assessment and high fidelity simulated OSCE environments as a framework for articulating a point of registration medication dosage calculation benchmark. Nurse Education in Practice, 13(2), e55-65. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2012.10.009