To embed the skills students will need to thrive beyond their studies, lecturers need to assess how they’re going to use them in their future lives. Enter authentic assessment – a holistic approach that judges the student’s ability to apply their learning in meaningful, real-world contexts. But how should this work across different university programmes and disciplines? How can educators incorporate digital tech and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into authentic assessment, given this will soon be ubiquitous in the workplace? And, crucially, how do we minimise subjectivity when marking such assignments and make it fair? This collection considers those questions and more, offering practical advice on making authentic assessment work for students and lecturers.
The foundations of authentic assessment in higher education
More authentic forms of examination, that offer students a chance to apply knowledge and skills in contextually relevant ways, bring numerous benefits. Most notably, they better prepare students for future jobs and make it harder to cheat, particularly since the emergence GenAI. But moving over to such assessment styles is not always simple. Here, academics tackle some basics of what authentic assessment should look like and where to start when transforming your approach.
Connecting adult learning principles, assessment and academic integrity: Adult learning principles and authentic assessment can offer ways for educators to not only prevent academic misconduct but also give students a chance to demonstrate skills that employers want to see in graduates, write Carl Sherwood and John Raiti of the University of Queensland.
Students need a balanced diet of assessment practices: Let's evaluate the process and products of our assessments and incorporate innovative elements to better emulate real-world tasks, write a team from Brunel University London and the University of East Anglia.
Is authentic assessment leaving some students behind? Does a more authentic assessment for some students mean an inauthentic experience for others? Sue Sharpe and Jennifer Z Sun of Australian National University and the University of Sydney explore how to address this by adopting a student-focused lens.
Equity, agency and transparency - making assessment work better for students and academics: Carol Evans of Cardiff University and the University of Southampton explains how to design assessment and feedback practices that are authentic and deepen students’ learning and confidence in the long term.
Ten tips when instigating an assessment transformation programme: Higher education is facing pressure to reform assessment. But how to get started? Steve Briggs of the University of Bedfordshire offers his top tips.
Authentic assessment design that works across academic disciplines
Learn how to design authentic assessments that situation learning in the real world with tasks that mirror the workplace. These resources outline authentic assessment formats and design strategies that can work across multiple disciplines.
How ‘interactive orals’ transform assessment – and how to implement them: Scenario-based conversations shift testing from memorisation to meaningful dialogue, reducing anxiety and building confidence in diverse learners. Read how they increase inclusivity and how to implement them across disciplines, from Popi Sotiriadou of Griffith University and Dani Logan-Fleming of Torrens University.
Authentic assessment for inclusivity and employability: Designing an educational studies course for international learners meant rethinking assessment, from traditional exams to a more practical, student-informed approach. Here’s what worked for Xiao Qu of the University of the West of Scotland.
How to design low-stakes authentic assessment that promotes academic integrity: Robust assessment design is more important than ever in the battle to maintain academic integrity, say Nguyen Bui and Simon Feros of Australian National University.
Authentic assessment for specific university courses
Find out how to design assessments that present students with challenges or tasks relevant to different professional contexts, according to their area of study. Certain capabilities and knowledge required in computer programming may not be applicable for management degrees, while transferrable skills such as effective communication, negotiation and reasoning are important to all professions. Here are examples of how to test in authentic ways across different university programmes.
Events-based authentic assessment that can boost employability: While demonstrating knowledge through exams has its place, how often do we use exam techniques and skills in our lives? Events offer biosciences students a more authentic way to develop and demonstrate professional skills, write Becky Lewis of the University of East Anglia and Colin McClure of Queen’s University Belfast.
Three alternative assessments that build managerial skills: Personal development discussions, presentations and peer coaching help build essential communication skills and emotional intelligence. These tips from a University of Exeter team will make them effective.
Authentic assessment design for computer programming master’s courses: A four-step plan for more meaningful assessment that incorporates AI-assisted evaluation, group discussions and presentations, shared by Thomas Selig and Ling Wang of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.
Authentic assessment in postgraduate statistics courses: Using anonymous student data for assessment tasks enhances engagement with learning, fosters practical skill development and makes business and economics concepts more memorable, writes Temesgen Kifle of the University of Queensland.
Portfolio assessment may be the key to deeper learning: Portfolio assessment has proved to be an innovative way to track students' progress in economics classes, making learning deeper and more meaningful. Here’s how to do it, according to Belén Pagone and Cecilia Primogerio of Universidad Austral.
Case-based discussion as an authentic healthcare assessment: Live discussions about specific patient cases have proven an effective way to assess healthcare students. Here, the University of East Anglia team behind it, provide tips on how to make it work well.
How to mark authentic assessment
A challenge of authentic assessment lies in ensuring fair, objective marking and feedback on the skills and knowledge demonstrated. Find out how to create robust rubrics that help examiners and students understand what is required and shifts the focus away from grades towards feedback and learning.
Assessment or measurement? Authentic assessments and measurements serve distinct purposes in understanding student success in higher education. Here’s why equating the two can undermine the depth and quality of student learning, by Heather Strine-Patterson of Virginia Tech.
How consensus grading can help build a generation of critical thinkers: Instead of punitive testing and high-stakes exams, consensus grading helps students learn how to critique their own work. James Thompson of the University of Adelaide encourages a real-time reflective approach to assessment.
Analytic rubric design fundamentals: A beginner’s guide to creating an analytic rubric which can be used by tutors to accurately mark and feedback on assignments, but also by students themselves to guide their work, shared by Jamie Gilbert Mikell of Athens State University.
Efficient methods of marking and providing feedback: Aaron Taylor and Victoria Rafferty of Arden University provide advice on how to ensure formative and summative feedback is carried out with student learning in mind.
Partnering with industry to shape university assessment
Lecturers can bridge the gap between academia and real-world application by integrating industry projects and challenges into assessments, as described here. Seeking industry input strengthens relationships between institutions and employers and ensures assignments reflect the realities of the professional world. Find out how to use events and e-portfolios to assess student learning, as well as forming important partnerships.
Partner with industry for authentic learning and assessment: Getting students workplace-ready is a challenge. By partnering with industry, lecturers can offer authentic learning experiences and assessments that equip students for future success in their chosen fields, write academics from the University of East Anglia and Nottingham Trent University.
Show off students’ employability with e-portfolios: Why and how to make e-portfolios a central part of university courses, helping students identify and exhibit skills that will appeal to employers, by Lourdes Guàrdia and Marcelo Maina of the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).
Improving assessments through industry collaboration: How to build and maintain industry relationships and coordinate effective project-based assessments for MBA students, from Maninder Singh of Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
Rethinking assessment in line with the changing world of work: Sarah Montano of the University of Birmingham offers insight on redesigning assessment in the digital space to test the skills students will need in their future careers.
Contextual learning - linking learning to the real world: Experience in the professional world can set your students up for a seamless transfer from higher education to the world of work, write a team from the University of Queensland.
The impact of GenAI on assessment design
GenAI has forced a major rethink of traditional assessment practices. This goes beyond worries over academic integrity. Students need to develop proficiency in using AI tools and assessments must reflect this. Here you can read about innovative approaches to assessment that embrace AI as part of the process and how AI literacy itself can be evaluated.
Assessment tasks that support human skills: Assignments that focus on exploration, analysis and authenticity offer a road map for university assessment that incorporates AI while retaining its rigour and human elements, explain Amir Ghapanchi and Afrooz Purarjomandlangrudi of Victoria University.
Four directions for assessment redesign in the age of generative AI: The rise of generative AI has led universities to rethink how learning is quantified. Julia Chen of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University offers four options for assessment redesign that can be applied across disciplines.
AI as a catalyst for assessment innovation: University educators have an opportunity to rethink their approach to assessment, so that artificial intelligence tools support student learning without compromising academic integrity, write Zheng Feei Ma and Antony Hill of the University of the West of England Bristol.
The evolution of assignments in the age of generative AI: Instead of cracking down on AI use for written assignments, we just need to make our assessment smarter, writes Miriam Wun of Singapore Institute of Technology.
Assessing the GenAI process, not the output: A framework for building AI literacy in a literature-review-type assessment, from a team at the University of East Anglia.
Assessments that maintain fairness and authenticity without AI: In-person, reflective and analytical tasks require students to apply their learning in real-world ways that AI can’t easily replicate. Here are eight ways to tailor AI-resistant assessment, from Temesgen Kifle at the University of Queensland.
Thank you to all who contributed their expertise and insight to this guide.
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