Create authentic assessments for students to demonstrate their ability to apply and work with the knowledge they have acquired. Since they reflect real-world challenges, authentic assessments are more likely to interest and motivate students than traditional assessments.
Attributes of authentic assessments
- are realistic
- require judgment and innovation
- ask the student to “do” the subject
- replicate or simulate the contexts in which professionals and community members work in real life
- assess the student’s ability to apply a repertoire of knowledge and skills to negotiate a complex task
- allow appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practice, consult resources, and get feedback on and refine performances and products
Examples of authentic assessments
| Discipline | Authentic Assessment Example |
|---|---|
| Nursing | Provide a case study of a patient and ask students to assess and create a plan of care. |
| Business | Develop a business/marketing/sales plan for an imaginary (or real) company in a student's area of interest. |
| Computer Science | Troubleshoot a problematic piece of code; Develop a website/app to solve a particular problem and/or meet a set of criteria. |
| Psychology | Examine/critique a case study from multiple theoretical positions. |
| Public Affairs or Service Learning Courses | Consider how a community agency might be impacted by a particular challenge (budget cuts, infrastructure outage, public health crisis, etc.). |
| Biology | Draw a diagram of how a process works, indicating what happens if X occurs. |
| History | Engage in a role play of a particular event in history; Describe what might have happened if one element of a historical event had changed. |