Authentic assessment focuses on students’ ability to apply knowledge in practical, meaningful situations. Examples include projects, presentations, case studies, and simulations. A key feature is that tasks aim to assess the application of knowledge in situations that students may encounter in their future careers.
The Centre for Higher Education Practice (CHEP) has developed five showcase resources, one from each faculty in which colleagues share their experiences of the challenges, benefits and feedback from students.
A new Authentic Assessment: Examples of Practice SharePoint site details benefits and challenges associated with designing Authentic Assessments as well showcasing five recorded case studies as follows:
Dr Judith Lock – Principal Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences talks about BIOL2041, which gives students experience of what it’s like to work in the field in the UK.
Professor Goran Mashanovich – Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences outlines the photonics pathway in Electronics and Computer Science that runs through all levels of study.
Dr Philip Alford – Director of CEPAR, Faculty of Social Sciences describes his approach to enabling students to work with ‘live’ clients (e.g. marketing agencies).
Dan Mar-Molinero, Principal Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Arts and Humanities outlines the Music Department’s approach to creating an authentic assessment environment for performance modules.
Aidan Wilson, Programme Lead for Clinical Skills, Faculty of Medicine outlines how medicine students are assessed on their clinical skills.
Many thanks to our contributors for giving up their valuable time to make these recordings.
Find out more by accessing the Authentic Assessment: Examples of Practice SharePoint site.