Authentic Assessment Methods in Mathematics Education

• It emphasizes learning and understanding concepts.

• This method is focused on students’ thought processes and the way they communicate what
they’ve learned

• The assessment is often related to the work itself

Why Authentic Assessment?

• No way to standardize these more qualitative tests.

• allows teachers to create a space where students feel more comfortable to share their
knowledge and engage with other students.

1. Performance assessment
- Students can demonstrate what they have learned and how to solve problems through a
collaborative effort in solving a complex problem together.
2. Short investigations
- It starts with a basic math problem (or can be adapted to any other school subject) in which
the student can demonstrate how he or she has mastered the basic concepts and skills.

3. Open-response questions
- A teacher can assess the student’s real-world understanding and how the analytical
processes relate by, in a quiz setting, requesting open responses, like:
• a brief written or oral answer
• a mathematical solution
• a drawing
• a diagram, chart or graph
4. Portfolios
- As students learn concepts throughout the school year, they can be documented and will
reveal progress and improvements as well as allow for self-assessment, edits and revisions.
They can be recorded in a number of ways, including:
• journal writing
• review by peers
• artwork and diagrams
• group reports
• student notes and outlines
• rough drafts to finished work

5. Self-assessment
- Once the projects are complete, ask the students to evaluate their own projects and
participation.
6. Multiple-choice questions
What Is Project-Based Learning? By: Thom Markham

• This approach provides a tangible connection between academic concepts and their practical
applications.
• “Learning by doing” - have a clear connection to real-world scenarios or challenges.

Why Use Project-Based Learning in Math?

1. It involves Students

Tips in Creating PBL Activities for Math

1. Name the problem

2. Clarify the standard or learning objective
3. Authenticity is paramount.
4. Chunk it up
5. Think ahead
6. Different is good
7. Pause and reflect
8. Share the results

GRASPS

- is a model for demonstrating performance of understanding using authentic assessments.

WHAT IS CHECKLIST?

• A tool for identifying the presence or absence of conceptual knowledge skills or

behaviors.

• Used for identifying whether key tasks in a procedure, process, or activity have been
completed.

ADVANTAGES:

• A checklist allows inter individual comparison

• They provide a simple method to record observations.

• They are adaptable to subject matter areas.

• It is useful in evaluating learning activities expected to be performed.

• They are helpful in evaluating procedure work.

• Properly prepared checklist allows observer to constrain the direct attention.

• Checklist have objectively to evaluate the characteristics.

• Decreases the chances of errors in observation

DISADVANTAGES:

• Checklist don’t indicate quality of performance, so the usefulness of checklist is limited.

• Only limited component of overall performance can be evaluated.

• Only the presence/absence of an attribute, behavior or performance or parameter may

be assured.

• It has limited use in qualitative observations.

Checklists are not easy to prepare.
An analytic rubric

- is a scoring tool that helps you identify the criteria that are relevant to the assessment and
learning objectives. It breaks down the characteristics of an assignment into parts, allowing
the scorer to itemize and define exactly what aspects are strong, and which ones need
improvement.

Advantage:

1. Feedback on Strengths and Weaknesses

2. Criteria Are Weighted

Disadvantage:

1. Time-Consuming to Create

2. Consistency Can Be an Issue

Holistic Rubric

- describes a characteristic of each level of performance for an assignment or activity overall

(e.g. characteristics of an excellent research paper).

ADVANTAGES

• Provides emphasis on what the learner can demonstrate (positive), rather than on
deficits (negatives).

• Saves grading time by minimizing the number of decisions an instructor needs to make
while grading.

• Ability to be applied consistently by multiple instructors

• Takes less time to create than traditional analytic rubrics

• Less complex; easier for students to understand

Task Specific Rubric

o is a detailed assessment tool designed to evaluate a single, specific task or performance

o focuses on the essential criteria and standards for successful completion of that particular task.