2.
Traditional Assessment vs
Authentic Assessment
Traditional assessments- refer to
conventional methods of testing, usually
standardized and use pen and paper with
PURPOSE: Traditional
To evaluate if the students have learned the
content; to determine whether or not the
students are successful in acquiring knowledge;
to ascribe a grade for them; to rank and
compare them against standards or other
learners.
•Provides teachers a snapshot of what the
students know.
•Measures students’ knowledge of the content.
•Requires students to demonstrate knowledge
by selecting a response/giving correct answers;
usually tests students’ proficiency through
paper and pencil tests
•Students are asked to choose an answer from
a set of questions (True or False; multiple
choice) to test knowledge of what has been
taught.
•Provides indirect evidence of learning
•Requires students to practice cognitive ability
to recall/recognize/reconstruct body of
knowledge that has been taught
•Tests and strengthens the students’ ability to
recall/recognize and comprehend content, but
does not reveal the students’ true progress of
what they can do with the knowledge they
acquired. In many cases, only the students’
lower level of thinking skills, (knowledge and
comprehension), are tapped.
• Hides the test
•Teachers serve as evaluators and students as
the evaluatees: teacher-structured
•Assessment is separated from teaching and
learning. Test usually comes after instruction to
evaluate if the students have successfully
learned the content.
multiple-choice, true or false or matching
type test items.
Authentic assessments- refer to
assessments wherein students are asked to
perform real-world tasks that demonstrate
meaningful application of what they have
learned.
PURPOSE: Authentic
To measure students’ proficiency by asking
them to perform real life-tasks; to provide
students many avenues to learn and
demonstrate best what they have learned; to
guide instruction; to provide feedback and help
students manage their own learning; to also
evaluate students’ competency.
•Provides teachers a more complete picture of
what the students know and what they can do
with what they know
•Measures students’ ability to apply knowledge
of the content in real life situations; ability to
use/apply what they have learned in
meaningful ways
•Requires students to demonstrate proficiency
by performing relevant tasks showing
application of what has been learned
•Provides direct evidence of
learning/competency; direct demonstration of
knowledge and skills by performing relevant
tasks
• Provides opportunities for students to
construct meaning/new knowledge out of what
has been taught
•Tests and strengthens the students’ ability to
reason and analyze, synthesize, and apply
knowledge acquired; Students’ higher level of
cognitive skills (from knowledge and
comprehension to analysis, synthesis,
application, and evaluation) are tapped in
multiple ways.
• Teaches the test
•Involves and engages the students in the
teaching, learning and assessment process:
student structured
•Assessment is integrated with instruction.
Assessment activities happen all throughout
instruction to help students improve their
learning and help teachers improve their
teaching.
•Provides limited ways for students to
demonstrate what they have learned
•Rigid and fixed
• Standardized; valid and reliable
•Curriculum drives assessment.
Traditional
• True or False; multiple choice tests
• Standardized tests
• Achievement tests
• Intelligence tests
• Aptitude tests
Advantages of Traditional
Assessment Over Authentic
Assessment:
Advantage of TA
•Easy to score; Teachers
can evaluate students
more quickly and easily.
•Less time and easier to prepare; easy to
administer
•Objective, reliable and valid
Economical
• Provides teachers with just a snapshot of
what the students have truly learned
• Provides students limited options to
demonstrate what they have learned, usually
limited to pencil and paper tests
• Assessment is separate from instruction.
•Reveals and strengthens only the students’
low level cognitive skills: knowledge and
comprehension
•Provides multiple avenues for students to
demonstrate best what they have learned
• Flexible and provides multiple acceptable
ways of constructing products or performance
as evidence of learning
• Needs well defined criteria/rubrics and
standards to achieve reliability and validity
• Assessment drives curriculum and instruction.
Authentic
• demonstrations
• hands-on experiments
• computer simulations
• portfolios
• projects
• multi-media presentations
• role plays
• recitals
• stage plays
• exhibits
Disadvantage AA
• Harder to evaluate
•Time consuming; labor intensive
• Sometimes, time and effort spent exceed the
benefits.
•Susceptible to unfairness, subjectivity, lacking
objectivity, reliability, and validity if not
properly guided by well-defined/clear criteria
or rubrics/standards
•Less economical
• Provides teachers with the true picture of
how and where their students are in their
learning; gives more information about their
students’ strengths, weaknesses, needs and
preferences that aid them in adjusting
instruction towards enhanced teaching and
learning
• Provides students many alternatives/ways to
demonstrate best what they have learned;
offers a wide array of interesting and
challenging assessment activities
Assessment is integrated with instruction.
•Reveals and enriches the students’ high level
cognitive skills: from knowledge and
comprehension to analysis, synthesis,
application and evaluation
 • Assesses only the lower level
thinking/cognitive skills: focuses only on the
students’ ability to memorize and recall
information
•Teacher-structured: teachers direct and act
as evaluators; students merely answer the
assessment tool
•Involves students working alone; promotes
competitiveness
•Invokes feelings of anxiety detrimental to
learning
•Time is fixed and limited; students are time-
pressured to finish the test.
•Focuses on one form of intelligence
3. Developing Authentic Classroom
Assessments
Authentic assessments- involve the
application of knowledge and skills in real-
world situations, scenarios, or problems.
Authentic assessments- create a student-
centered learning experience by providing
students opportunities to problem-solve,
inquire, and create new knowledge and
meaning.
Elements of Authentic Assessments
Accuracy and validity
Demonstration of learning
Transfer of knowledge
Metacognition
Collaboration
Flexibility
Environment and tools
Accuracy and validity
•Enhances students’ ability to apply skills and
knowledge to real lie situations; taps high order
cognitive and problem solving skills
•Student-structured: students are more
engaged in their learning; assessment results
guide instruction
• Oftentimes involves students working in
groups hence promotes team work,
collaborative and interpersonal skills
•Reduces anxiety and creates a more relaxed
happy atmosphere that boosts learning
•Time is flexible.
•Focuses on the growth of the learner;
•Learners express their understanding of the
learning content using their preferred multiple
forms of intelligences.
•Provides parents and community with more
observable products, proofs of the students’
learning which motivate them to support their
kids’ learning more
• Accuracy of the assessment -refers to
how closely it resembles a real-world
situation,
problem, disciplinary norm, or field of study.
• Assessment validity -refers to the
alignment of grading criteria to the learning
objectives, transferable skills (e.g.,
communication, critical
thinking, etc.), workforce readiness skills,
and disciplinary norms
and practices.
Demonstration of learning
• The outcomes of an assessment should
allow students to demonstrate learning in
ways that reflect their field of study, for
example, a performance or a product that
is authentic to their future career.
• Or the assessment should allow for
student choice based on interests and skills;
for example, one group of students decides
to create a podcast to demonstrate their
learning in general education coursework.
Transfer of knowledge
• The assessment should provide the
transfer of knowledge from theory to
practice and from one task or experience
to another.
• For example, students writing a blog post
about a scientific principle that was
demonstrated in current events replacing a
traditional essay or paper on the scientific
principle.
Metacognition
• The process of reflecting on learning
should be purposefully planned for students
to make connections to prior knowledge,
experiences, and different subject areas.
• For example, metacognition can be
encouraged in authentic assessments by
asking students to evaluate their progress,
self-assess their product or performance,
and reflect on their thought processes and
learning experiences during the authentic
assessment.
Collaboration
• The assessments should provide
opportunities for interaction that are
aligned to the real-world situation.
• For example, if the task is typically
completed by a team in the field, then the
assessment should be completed
collaboratively by a group.
Flexibility
• The assessment should provide flexibility
in the timeline and due dates for meeting
project benchmarks and deliverables to
align with real-world tasks.
• For example, if the task would take a few
weeks to complete while working full time
then the timeline in the course should
reflect this timing to ensure authenticity
and manageability.
Environment and tools
• The environment and tools used to
provide the assessment should be like the
environments and tools in the students’
field of study or aligned with a real-world
situation.
• For example, students taking a graphic
design course utilizing software that is used
in their field to create typography, logos,
etc., or medical students practicing
authentic tasks in a simulation room to
mirror a hospital room.
Types of Authentic Assessments
Authentic assessments can be designed
using different teaching methods like
inquiry-based learning, project-based
learning, problem-based learning, scenario-
based learning, or design-based learning.
Inquiry-based Learning- involves the
process of research and experimentation
with complex questions and problems
- structured around phases similar to the
scientific method where students develop
questions, experiment, and evaluate.
Elements of Inquiry-based Learning
•Identifying a problem or question.
• Making predictions or formulating
hypotheses.
• Active construction of new knowledge
through testing, research, and
experimentation.
• Communication and discussion of results
and new knowledge.
• Evaluation of process, data interpretation,
and self-reflection.
The focus of inquiry-based learning is
scientific thinking and reasoning.
The process students use to discover new
information can vary based on the type of
inquiry process you select to use in the
course.
One example of an inquiry process is
the 5E model:
Engagement Phase – connections are made
to past and present learning.
Exploration Phase – students engage in
testing, research, or experimentation.
Explanation Phase – students communicate
and demonstrate their learning.
Elaboration Phase – instructor extends
students’ learning with new activities.
Evaluation Phase – students self-assess and
reflect on learning.
Problem-Based learning- involves a
dilemma or problem that needs to be
solved
- structured around the research process
and the discovery of solutions
Elements of Problem-Based Learning
Application of learning to real-world
situations – the context of the problem.
Alignment of learning objectives – the
purpose behind the problem.
Creates new knowledge while retrieving
previous experiences and knowledge – the
investigation of solutions to the problem.
Communication of findings and/or
collaboration with Peers – the discussion or
defense of solutions to the problem.
Feedback and metacognition – how the
problem improved student learning.
Scenario-Based Learning -Involves a
real-world scenario that prompts student
learning
-provides students opportunities to draw on
previous experience and knowledge to
complete authentic tasks.
Elements of Scenario-Based Learning
Realistic scenarios
Contextualize learning from theory to
application
Incorporates retrieval of previous
experience and knowledge
Completion of authentic tasks to address
the scenario
Authentic tasks show alignment to learning
objectives and workforce readiness
Project-based Learning -involves
student interest, choice, and autonomy to
create a student-centered experience
-can be completed individually or
collaboratively
-If project-based learning is completed
collaboratively, then a group of students
works together to demonstrate the
application of their collective knowledge
and experiences.
Stages of Project-based Learning
1.Project planning – the student or group
determines how they will demonstrate the
learning objectives through a selected
format (product or performance).
2.Project starts – the student or group
research topics aligned to learning
objectives and analyzes the research
collected or practices skills and prepares for
the performance.
3. Formative feedback – the student or
group receives formative feedback on the
project as well as self-assess their progress.
4.Completion of the project – the student
or group adjusts the project based on
feedback and completes the product or
performance preparation.
5.Presentation – the student or group
presents the product or performance to the
class (synchronously or asynchronously).
6.Reflection – the student or group reflects
on learning and experience for
metacognition and provides the instructor
with feedback on the process.
7.Assessment of the project – the student
or group receives feedback from the
instructor and/or peers and receives a grade
on the project.

Design-based learning (or design
thinking)
-involves creativity, critical thinking, and
brainstorming to solve human-centered
problems
-provides opportunities to collaboratively
engage with peers to innovate and
determine solutions
-the process students use to ideate can vary
based on the type of design process you
select to use in the course.
One example of Design-based
Learning
Empathize – students focus on human-
centered experiences and learn about their
audience.
Define – students define personas (e.g.,
who will benefit from the innovation, who
will be the end user of the product or
service, or who might be the customers to
attract), goals, and objectives.
Ideate – students brainstorm without
judgment of ideas.
Prototype – students develop an outline,
sketch, flowchart, model, role-play, etc.
Test – students implement the prototype
and receive feedback (self, peer, and
instructor).
Reflect and redesign – students reflect on
their learning process and refine or redesign
the prototype.
Impact of Authentic Assessments-
Authentic assessments have the potential
to improve student self-efficacy (belief in
own capacity), performance, and learning.
Self-efficacy and confidence- in a
review of research completed on fifteen
studies of project-based learning, 90% of
the students reported improved confidence
and were optimistic that they could
implement project-based learning in future
careers (Indrawn, 2019).
Higher grades- In a general education
writing course, students who participated in
scenario-based learning showed
consistently higher averages (one to two
letter grades higher) than students who did
not receive scenario-based learning
(Golden, 2018).
Engagement and retention- Authentic
assessments have shown improved student
engagement and learner retention through
participation in authentic assessments.
Direct evidence- Authentic assessments
provide direct evidence of students’
learning and skills for instructors and
students to better understand the learning
taking place and plan the next steps for
instruction and learning.
Student Diversity- Authentic assessments
allow students to demonstrate their unique
abilities, lived experiences, interests, and
social identities.
Real-world Artifacts- Authentic
assessments provide students with
authentic tasks that can be
utilized in professional portfolios, resumes,
or interviews.
Considerations for Authentic
Assessment
1. The education and experience level
of students
2. The subjectivity of authenticity
3. Complexity
4. Instructor’s role
5. Student ownership and choice
6. Formative feedback
7. Manageability
Authentic Assessment Products or
Performances
There are numerous types of products and
performances to choose from when
designing an authentic assessment. This is
not an all-encompassing list of authentic
products or performances, but more of a
starting point for ideas. Instructors should
also consider allowing students or groups to
brainstorm ideas for products or
performances and self-select a format.