CEE 101 Go back to Evaluation and Assessment

Authentic Assessment is an outgrowth of the very real concern that standardized tests and some objective, multiple choice tests do not accurately measure thinking and problem-solving skills or in-depth subject knowledge. With this testing strategy, students work on "real" problems or projects and their learning is measured by process as well as product.

Tips for Developing Authentic Assessments

adapted from L. Shalaway. Learning to Teach: Not Just for Beginners

* Use a variety of tasks and products to match needs of different types of learners
*Plan assessments that require and audience (face to face or virtual)
*Give opportunities for your students to assess themselves (self questioning strategies)
*Don't coach students every step of the way (communicate expectations and criteria clearly)
*Using model quality samples from previous class can be helpful
 

Perfomance Assessment - performance tasks become learning experiences. Example- a written response to a journal article. Verbal products: role-play, panel discussions, debates, lectures. Visual Products: charts, illustrations, diagrams, posters, maps, graphs, murals, flow charts, advertisements. Kinesthetic Products: diramas, puzzles, games, exhibits. Written Products: journals, diaries, logs, reports, essays, position papers.

*Strive for authenticity in products and performances

* Publicize criteria and performance standards

*Provide models of excellence

*Teach strategies explicitly

*Use ongoing assessments for feedback and adjustment

*Document and celebrate performance

Portfolio Assessment: students collect work samples over time to demonstrate how much they have learned and the process they used to do it. Some types of portfolios: Showcase portfolios with student's best work. Evaluative portfolios that assess and measure the quality of student work against a rubric. Progress portfolios document work over time in a particular subject area.

Problems with portfolios include the time consuming nature of the task to put them together and then to review and grade them by the instructor.

Scoring Rubrics are Essential for Authentic Assessments.

Identify the key characteristics of good and bad products

List the key criteria of a good work

Describe at least 3 quality levels (good, adequate, and poor) for each criteria.

Put a written copy of the scoring rubric in student hands and use it to grade student work.