10 Hmef5053 T6

Topic  Authentic
Assessment
6
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the topic, you should be able to:

1. Define authentic assessment;
2. Explain how to use authentic assessment;
3. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of authentic assessment;
4. Describe the characteristics of authentic assessment; and
5. Compare authentic assessment with traditional assessment.
 INTRODUCTION
Many teachers use traditional assessment tools such as multiple-choice tests and
essay type tests to assess their students. How well do these multiple-choice or
essay tests really evaluate studentsÊ understanding and achievement? These
traditional assessment tools do serve a role in the assessment of student outcomes.
However, assessment does not always have to involve paper and pencil, but can
instead be in the form of a project, an observation or a task that shows a student
has learnt the material. Are these alternative assessments more effective than the
traditional ones?
Some classroom teachers are using testing strategies that do not focus entirely on
recalling facts. Instead, they ask students to demonstrate the skills and concepts
they have learnt. Teachers may want to ask the students to learn how to apply their
skills to authentic tasks and projects or to have students demonstrate the
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

TOPIC 6 AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT  123
application of their knowledge in real life. The students must then be trained to
perform meaningful tasks that replicate real-world challenges. In other words,
students are asked to perform a task rather than select an answer from a ready-
made list.
This strategy of asking students to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate

meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills is called authentic
assessment. Let us learn more about authentic assessment in the following
subtopics.
ACTIVITY 6.1
The following are two assessment procedures, A and B. Which is an

authentic assessment and which is traditional assessment?
Assessment A
Students are asked to take a paper-and-pencil test on how to prepare for
MCQs in an examination paper.
Assessment B
Students are asked to prepare for MCQs in an examination paper,
administer it to a class of 30 students and then write a report.
Justify your answer in the myINSPIRE online forum.
6.1 WHAT IS AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT IN

THE CLASSROOM?
Authentic assessment, in contrast to the more traditional assessment, encourages
the integration of teaching, learning and assessing. In the „traditional assessment
model‰, teaching and learning are often separated from assessment. A test is
administered after knowledge or skills have been acquired. Authentic assessment
usually includes a task for students to perform and a rubric by which their
performance on the task will be assessed. Thus doing science experiments, writing
stories and reports, and solving mathematical problems that have real-world
applications can all be considered as examples of authentic assessment. Useful
achievement data can be obtained via authentic assessment.

124  TOPIC 6 AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
Teachers can teach students mathematics, history and science, not just know them.
Then, to assess what the students had learnt, teachers can ask students to perform
the tasks that „replicate the challenges‰ faced by those using mathematics, history
or conducting a scientific investigation. Well-designed traditional classroom
assessments such as tests and quizzes can effectively determine whether or not
students have acquired a body of knowledge.
In contrast, authentic assessments ask students to demonstrate understanding by

performing a more complex task usually representative of more meaningful
application. These tasks involve asking students to analyse, synthesise and apply
what they have learnt in a substantial manner and students create new meaning
in the process as well. In short, authentic assessment helps answer the question,
„How well can you use what you know?‰ but traditional testing helps answer the
question, „Do you know it?‰
The usual or traditional classroom assessment such as multiple-choice tests and

short-answer tests are just as important as the authentic assessment. In fact, the
authentic assessment complements the traditional assessment. Authentic
assessment has been gaining acceptance among early childhood and primary
school teachers where traditional assessment may not be appropriate.
6.2 ALTERNATIVE NAMES FOR AUTHENTIC

ASSESSMENT
Did you know that authentic assessment is sometimes referred to as performance
assessment, alternative assessment and direct assessment?
It is called performance assessment or performance-based assessment because

students are asked to perform meaningful tasks. Performance assessment is, „a test
in which the test taker actually demonstrates the skills the test is intended to
measure by doing real-world tasks that require those skills, rather than by
answering questions asking how to do them‰ (Vander Ark, 2013). Project-based
learning (PBL) and portfolio assignments are examples of performance
assessment. With performance assessment, teachers observe students while they
are performing in the classroom, and judge the level of proficiency demonstrated.
As authentic tasks are rooted in curriculum, teachers can develop tasks based on
what already works for them. Through this process, evidence-based assignments
such as portfolios become more authentic and more meaningful to students.

The term alternative assessment is sometimes used because authentic assessment

is an alternative to traditional assessments. Using checklists and rubrics in self and
peer evaluation, students participate actively in evaluating themselves and one
another. Alternative assessments measure performance in ways other than
traditional paper-and-pencil, and short-answer tests. For example, a Klang Valley
Science teacher may ask the students to identify the different pollutants in the
Klang River and make a report to the local environmental council.
Direct assessment is so-called because authentic assessments are direct measures

that provide more direct evidence of meaningful application of knowledge and
skills. If a student does well on a multiple-choice test, we might infer indirectly
that the student could apply that knowledge in real-world contexts as well; but we
would be more comfortable making that inference from a direct demonstration of
that application such as in the example mentioned earlier, river pollutants. We do
not just want students to know the content of the disciplines when they leave
school; we want them to apply other knowledge and skills they have learnt. Direct
evidence of student learning is tangible, visible, and measureable and tends to be
more compelling evidence of exactly what students have and have not learnt.
Teachers can directly look at studentsÊ work or performances to determine what
they have learnt.
6.3 HOW TO USE AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT?

Authentic assessments focus on the learning process, sound instructional
practices, and high-level thinking skills and proficiencies needed for success in the
real world, and, therefore, may offer students who have been exposed to them
huge advantages over those who have not. This helps students see themselves as
active participants, who are working on a task of relevance, rather than passive
recipients of obscure facts. It helps teachers by encouraging them to reflect on the
relevance of what they teach and provides results that are useful for improving
instruction.
The following lists the steps which you can take to create your own authentic
assessment:
(a) Identify which standards you want your students to meet through this
assessment;
(b) Choose a relevant task for this standard or set of standards, so that students
can demonstrate how they have or have not met the standards;

(c) Define the characteristics of good performance on this task. This will provide
useful information regarding how well students have met the standards; and
(d) Create a rubric or set of guidelines for students to follow so that they are able
to assess their work as they perform the assigned task.
Brady (2012) suggested some examples of authentic assessment strategies which

include the following:
(a) Exhibit an athletic skill;
(b) Produce a short musical, dance or drama;
(c) Publish a class brochure;
(d) Perform a role, an oral presentation or an artistic display;
(e) Plan or draw conceptual mind maps or flow charts;
(f) Demonstrate the use of ICT tools such as webpages creation or video editing;
(g) Construct models;
(h) Produce creative writing;
(i) Peer teaching, evaluating teacher-student feedback; and
(a) Attempt unstructured tasks like problem-solving, open-ended questions,

formal and informal observations.
6.4 ADVANTAGES OF AUTHENTIC

ASSESSMENT
According to Wiggins (1990), while standardised, multiple-choice tests can be
valid indicators of academic performance, tests often mislead students into
believing that learning requires cramming and mislead teachers into believing
tests are after-the-fact, contrived and irrelevant.
A move towards more authentic tasks and outcomes improves teaching and
learning. In this respect, authentic assessment has many benefits, but the main
benefits are as follows:
(a) Authentic assessment provides parents and community members with

directly observable products and understandable evidence concerning their
childrenÊs performance. The quality of studentÊs work is more discernible to
laypeople than when we must rely on abstract statistical figures.

(b) Authentic assessment uses tasks that reflect normal classroom activities or
real-life learning as means for improving instruction; thus, allowing teachers
to plan a comprehensive, developmentally-oriented curriculum based on
their knowledge of each child.
(c) Authentic assessment is consistent with the constructivist approach to

learning. This approach emphasises that students should use their previous
knowledge to build new knowledge structures, be actively involved in
exploration and inquiry through task-like activities, and construct meaning
from educational experience. Most authentic assessments engage students
and actively involve them with complex tasks that require exploration and
inquiry.
(d) Authentic assessment tasks assess the studentsÊ ability on how well they can
apply what they have learnt in real-life situations. An important school
outcome is the ability of the students to solve problems and lead a useful life,
rather than simply to answer questions about facts, principles and theories
they have learnt. In other words, authentic assessments require students to
demonstrate their ability to complete a task using their knowledge and skills
from several areas rather than simply recalling information or saying how to
do a task.
(e) Authentic assessment tasks require an integration of knowledge, skills and

abilities. Complex tasks, especially those that span for longer periods, require
students to use different skills and abilities. Portfolios and projects, two
common tools in authentic assessment, require a student to use knowledge
from several different areas and many different abilities.
(f) Authentic assessment focuses on higher-order thinking skills such as

„applying, analysing, evaluating and creating‰, which are found in BloomÊs
taxonomy. Authentic assessment evaluates thinking skills such as analysis,
synthesis, evaluation and interpretation of facts and ideas ă skills which
standardised tests generally avoid.
(g) Embedding authentic assessment in the classroom allows for a wide range of
assessment strategies. It involves the teacher-and-student collaboration in
determining assessment (student-structured tasks).
(h) Authentic assessment broadens the approach to student assessment.

Introducing authentic assessment along with traditional assessment
broadens the types of learning outcomes that a teacher can assess. It also
offers students a variety of ways of expressing their learning, thus enhancing
the validity of student evaluation.

(i) Authentic assessment focuses on studentÊs progress, rather than identifying

their weaknesses. Authentic assessment lets teachers assess the processes
students use as well as the products they produce. Many authentic tasks offer
teachers the opportunity to watch the way a student goes about solving a
problem or completing a task. Appropriate scoring rubrics help teachers
collect information about the quality of the processes and strategies students
use, as well as assess the quality of the finished product.
6.5 DISADVANTAGES OF AUTHENTIC

ASSESSMENT
Despite the usefulness of authentic assessment as an assessment tool, it has some
drawbacks as well. Some of the criticisms are as follows:
(a) High-quality Authentic Assessment Tasks Are Difficult to Develop

First, they must match the complex learning outcomes that are being
assessed. Teachers may decide that more than one learning outcome be
assessed by the same complex task. They must also be aware that not every
learning outcome can and should be assessed by authentic assessments. They
should only select those that can and should. In crafting the tasks for
assessment, teachers also have to decide if they want to assess the process,
the product or both. Of course, most important of all, the tasks developed
must allow for predetermined performance criteria. For that, the tasks must
possess special characteristics. Refer to subtopic 6.6 for details.
(b) High-quality Scoring Rubrics Are Difficult to Develop

This is especially true when teachers want to assess complex cognitive and
intangible affective learning outcomes or permit multiple answers and
products. Failure to develop a high-quality rubric will affect the validity and
reliability of assessment.
(c) Completing Authentic Assessment Tasks Takes a Lot of Time

Most authentic tasks take days, weeks or months to complete. For instance,
a research project might take a few weeks and this might reduce the amount
of instructional time.

(d) Scoring Authentic Assessment Tasks Takes a Lot of Time

The more complex the tasks, the more time teachers can expect to spend on
scoring. Complex tasks normally allow for many diverse outputs from the
students. It is time consuming to score this type of outputs. Besides,
assessment that focuses on the process requires that teachers monitor and
score the output at different stages in the implementation of the tasks.
(e) Scores from Tasks for Authentic Assessment May Have Lower Scorer
Reliability
With complex tasks, multiple outputs and answers, scoring depends on
teachersÊ own competence. If two teachers are doing the assessment, they
may mark the same output or answer of a student quite differently. This is
not only frustrating to the student but lowers the reliability and validity of
the assessment results. However, this problem can be solved by having well-
defined rubrics and well-trained scorers to mark the studentsÊ output.
(f) Authentic Assessments Have Low Reliability from the Content-sampling

Point of View
Normally, each authentic assessment task will only focus on specific subject-
matter content. As the task requires an extended period of time to complete,
it is not possible to have a wide content coverage as in the traditional
objective assessment formats which allow a broader content coverage in less
time.
(g) Completing Authentic Assessment Tasks May Be Discouraging to Less Able

Students
Complex tasks such as projects require students to sustain their interest and
intensity over a long period of time. They may be overwhelmed by the high
demands of the authentic assessment. Though group work may help by
permitting peers to share the work and use each otherÊs differential
knowledge and skills to complete the task, group work has its limitations in
assessment.
In sum, criticism of authentic assessments generally involves both the informal

development of the assessments and difficulty in ensuring test validity and
reliability given the subjective nature of human scoring rubrics as compared to
computers scoring multiple-choice test items. Many teachers shy away from
authentic assessments because these methodologies are time intensive to manage,
grade, monitor and coordinate. Teachers find it hard to provide consistent grading
scheme. The subjective method of grading may lead to bias. Teachers also find that
this method is not practical for a big group of students.

Nevertheless, based on the value of authentic assessments to student outcomes,

the advantages of authentic assessments outweigh these concerns. For example,
once the assessment guidelines and grading rubric are created, they can be filed
away and used year after year. As Linquist (1951) noted, there is nothing new
about this authentic assessment methodology. This is not some kind of radical
invention recently fabricated by the opponents of traditional tests to challenge the
testing industry. Rather it is a proven method of evaluating human characteristics
that has been in use for decades.
ACTIVITY 6.2
Is authentic assessment practised in your institution? How is it done? If

it is not being practised, explain why.
Share your experience with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE online

forum.
6.6 CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTHENTIC

ASSESSMENT
The main characteristics of authentic assessment have been summed up by Reeves,
Herrington and Oliver (2002) who then contrasted its methodology to that of
traditional assessment. According to Reeves et al. (2002), authentic assessment is
characterised by the following:
(a) Has Real-world Relevance

The assessment is meant to focus on the impact of oneÊs work in real or
realistic contexts.
(b) Requires Students to Define the Tasks and Sub-tasks Needed to Complete
the Activity
Problems inherent in the activities are open to multiple interpretations rather
than easily solved by the application of existing algorithms.

(c) Comprises Complex Tasks to Be Investigated by Students Over a Sustained

Period of Time
Activities are completed in days, weeks and months rather than minutes or
hours. They require significant investment of time and intellectual resources.
(d) Provides the Opportunity for Students to Examine the Task from Different
Perspectives, Using a Variety of Resources
The use of a variety of resources rather than a limited number of pre-selected
references requires students to distinguish relevant information from
irrelevant data.
(e) Provides the Opportunity to Collaborate

Collaboration is integral to the task, both within the course and the real
world, rather than achievable by the individual learner.
(f) Provides the Opportunity to Reflect

Assessments need to enable learners to make choices and reflect on their
learning, both individually and socially.
(g) Can Be Integrated and Applied Across Different Subject Areas and Lead
Beyond Domain-specific Outcomes
Assessments encourage interdisciplinary perspectives and enable students
to play diverse roles; thus, building robust expertise rather than knowledge
limited to a single well-defined field or domain.
(h) Authentic Activities are Seamlessly Integrated with Assessment

Assessment of activities is seamlessly integrated with the major task in a
manner that reflects real-world assessment, rather than separate artificial
assessment removed from the nature of the task.
(i) Creates Values

The product, outcome or result of an assessment is polished and is valued by
the student in its own right, rather than being treated as preparation for
something else.
(j) Allows Competing Solutions and Diversity of Outcomes

Assessments allow a range and diversity of outcomes open to multiple
solutions of an original nature, rather than a single correct response obtained
by the application of rules and procedures.

6.7 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AUTHENTIC AND

TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENTS
Assessment is authentic when we directly examine studentÊs performance on
worthy intellectual tasks. Traditional assessment, by contrast, relies on indirect or
„proxy items‰ that though efficient, are simplistic substitutes from which we think
valid inferences can be made about the studentÊs performance at those valued
challenges (Wiggins, 1990). The differences can be summed up as in Table 6.1.
Table 6.1: Comparisons between Authentic and Traditional Assessments
Attributes Authentic Assessment Traditional Assessment

Reasoning and  Schools must help students  Schools must teach this
practice become proficient at body of knowledge and
performing the tasks they skills.
will encounter when they  To determine if teaching
leave schools. is successful, the school
 To determine if teaching is must then test students to
successful, the school must see if they acquired the
then ask students to perform knowledge and skills.
meaningful tasks that
replicate real-world
challenges to see if students
are capable of doing so.
Assessment and  Assessment drives the  The curriculum drives
curriculum curriculum. That is, teachers assessment. The body of
first determine the tasks that knowledge is determined
students will perform to first. That knowledge
demonstrate their mastery becomes the curriculum
and then a curriculum is that is delivered.
developed that will enable Subsequently, the
students to perform those assessments are
tasks well, which would developed and
include the acquisition of administered to
essential knowledge and determine if acquisition
skills. This has been referred of the curriculum
to as planning backwards. occurred.

Types of  Students are required to  Students are required to

assessment tasks demonstrate understanding take tests, usually the
by performing a more selection type, in which
complex task usually they are asked to select
representative of more the correct answer from
meaningful applications such the choices provided.
as carrying out a class project
and keeping portfolios.
Nature of  Real-life tasks are assigned  Tests that are contrived,
assessment tasks for learners to perform in e.g. MCQs are used to
order to demonstrate their assess learnersÊ
proficiency or competency. proficiency or
understanding in a short
period of time.
Focus of  Construction or Application  Recall or Recognition of
assessment of Knowledge Knowledge
Assessment requires learners In assessment, learners
to be effective performers of are only required to
the acquired knowledge. reveal if they can
Therefore, during assessment recognise and recall,
learners are asked to analyse, normally facts that they
synthesise and apply what have learnt out of
they have learnt and create context.
new meaning in the process.
LearnersÊ  Learner Structured  Teacher Structured
responses in Authentic assessments allow What a student can and
assessment more student choices and will demonstrate has
construction in determining been carefully structured
what is presented as evidence by the person(s) who
of proficiency. Even when developed the test. A
students cannot choose their studentÊs attention will
own topics or formats, there understandably be
are usually multiple focused on and limited to
acceptable routes towards what is on the test.
constructing a product or
performance.

Evidence of  Authentic assessments offer  The evidence is very

learnersÊ more direct evidence of indirect, particularly for
proficiency or application and construction claims of meaningful
competency of knowledge. application in complex,
 For example, asking a student real-world situations.
to write a critique should  For example, in MCQ, a
provide more direct evidence student effectively cannot
of that skill than asking the critique the arguments
student a series of multiple someone else has
choice, analytical questions presented (an important
about a passage. skill often required in the
real world).
Reliability and  Validity depends in part  Validity is normally
validity upon whether the assessment determined by matching
simulates real-world tests of test items to the
ability. curriculum content.
 It is difficult to ensure  It is possible to have high
reliability because of the scoring reliability as the
subjective nature of scoring learnersÊ responses are
method (rubric) and the fixed. For example, there
presence of varied but is only one right answer
acceptable learnersÊ to a multiple-choice item.
responses.
Source: Adapted from Mueller (2005)
SELF-CHECK 6.1
1. What is authentic assessment?
2. State the other names used to describe authentic assessment.
3. Highlight three differences between authentic and traditional

assessments.

ACTIVITY 6.3
1. State the reasons why authentic assessment is a good replacement

for traditional assessment.
2. Give an example of authentic assessment.
Post your answers on the myINSPIRE online forum.
 The strategy of asking students to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate

meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills is called authentic
assessment.
 Authentic assessment is sometimes called performance assessment, alternative

assessment or direct assessment.
 Authentic assessment has many advantages and traditional assessment

complements the authentic assessment.
 An authentic assessment usually includes a task for students to perform and a

rubric by which their performance on the task will be evaluated.
 Authentic assessment is a proven method of assessing human characteristics

that has been in use for decades.
Alternative assessment Indirect evidence

Backwards design Kinaesthetic
Contrived to real life Performance assessment
Direct assessment Student structured
Direct evidence

Brady, L. (2012). Assessment and reporting: Celebrating student achievement

(4th ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Pearson.
Kohn, A. (2006). The trouble with rubrics. English Journal, 95(4), 12ă15.
Linquist, E. F. (1951). Preliminary considerations in objective test construction. In

E.F. Linquist (Ed), Educational measurement (pp. 4ă22). Washington, DC:
American Council on Education.
Muller, J. (2005). The authentic assessment toolbox: Enhancing student learning

through online faculty development. Journal of Online Learning and
Teaching, 1(1), 1ă7.
Reeves, T. C., Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2002). Authentic activity as a model for
web-based learning. Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American
Educational Research Association, New Orleans, FL.
Vander Ark, T. (2013). What is performance assessment? Retrieved from

http://gettingsmart.com/2013/12/performance-assessment/
Wiggins, G. (1990). The case for authentic assessment. Practical Assessment,

Research & Evaluation, 2(2), 1ă3.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA:

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

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Topic  Authentic

By the end of the topic, you should be able to:

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

This strategy of asking students to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate

The following are two assessment procedures, A and B. Which is an

Justify your answer in the myINSPIRE online forum.

6.1 WHAT IS AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT IN

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

In contrast, authentic assessments ask students to demonstrate understanding by

The usual or traditional classroom assessment such as multiple-choice tests and

6.2 ALTERNATIVE NAMES FOR AUTHENTIC

It is called performance assessment or performance-based assessment because

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

The term alternative assessment is sometimes used because authentic assessment

Direct assessment is so-called because authentic assessments are direct measures

6.3 HOW TO USE AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT?

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Brady (2012) suggested some examples of authentic assessment strategies which

(a) Exhibit an athletic skill;

(b) Produce a short musical, dance or drama;

(c) Publish a class brochure;

(d) Perform a role, an oral presentation or an artistic display;

(e) Plan or draw conceptual mind maps or flow charts;

(g) Construct models;

(h) Produce creative writing;

(i) Peer teaching, evaluating teacher-student feedback; and

(a) Attempt unstructured tasks like problem-solving, open-ended questions,

6.4 ADVANTAGES OF AUTHENTIC

(a) Authentic assessment provides parents and community members with

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

(c) Authentic assessment is consistent with the constructivist approach to

(e) Authentic assessment tasks require an integration of knowledge, skills and

(f) Authentic assessment focuses on higher-order thinking skills such as

(h) Authentic assessment broadens the approach to student assessment.

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

(i) Authentic assessment focuses on studentÊs progress, rather than identifying

6.5 DISADVANTAGES OF AUTHENTIC

(a) High-quality Authentic Assessment Tasks Are Difficult to Develop

(b) High-quality Scoring Rubrics Are Difficult to Develop

(c) Completing Authentic Assessment Tasks Takes a Lot of Time

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

(d) Scoring Authentic Assessment Tasks Takes a Lot of Time

(f) Authentic Assessments Have Low Reliability from the Content-sampling

(g) Completing Authentic Assessment Tasks May Be Discouraging to Less Able

In sum, criticism of authentic assessments generally involves both the informal

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Nevertheless, based on the value of authentic assessments to student outcomes,

Is authentic assessment practised in your institution? How is it done? If

Share your experience with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE online

6.6 CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTHENTIC

(a) Has Real-world Relevance

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

(c) Comprises Complex Tasks to Be Investigated by Students Over a Sustained

(e) Provides the Opportunity to Collaborate

(f) Provides the Opportunity to Reflect

(h) Authentic Activities are Seamlessly Integrated with Assessment

(i) Creates Values

(j) Allows Competing Solutions and Diversity of Outcomes