Hi! Welcome to the principles of authentic assesment blog. Patricia, Joan and I (the Online Pedgogical Networkers team) have spend numerous weeks researching,unpacking and constructing our understanding of what is meant by authentic assessment. We found many interpretations of authenticity giving us the impression, at first, of quite a 'dense' pedagogical concept. However, as our journey progressed we started to see connections in the literature which allows us to identify key principles of authentic assessment.
As this is my first venture into blogging (yes I have been hiding under a rock) my plan is to kick off the dialogue with just one question while I master the platform to see what 'bells and whistles' I can embed to tempt you further into my blogging world:)
My question is "What are the principles of authentic assessment?"
HINT: our research uncovered the following 'generic' principles:
• course design - constructive alignment between learning outcomes, learning and teaching activities and assessment
• assessment design that is student-centred, resembles real-life situations (note: must be perceived as real-life to the learner not the teacher), requires students to demonstrate their learning and take ownership of the learning process, and must take into account the education level of the learner
• defines authentic assessment as resembling the real world - the professional real world; real world situations
• recognises the social context in which authentic assessment takes place - collaboration, socio-cultural influences in a real-life situation
• well designed authentic assessment have a positive influence of student learning and motivation (self-efficacy)
• students become effective assessors of their own learning (self-assessment, self-evaluation)
