Definition: Authentic assessment allows students to show what they know in a way that makes sense to them in a “real-world” setting. Read this article from The Center of Teaching and Learning at Indiana University Bloomington. It does a great job of defining the term and giving examples.
Traditional vs Authentic Task Comparison
The table below from Wiggins (1998) compares traditional assessments (tests and exams) to authentic assessments (tasks).
Resources for Authentic Assessment
- Authentic Assessment: Assessing Student Learning: Teaching .. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/assessing-student-learning/authentic-assessment/index.html
- Authentic Assessment | Institute for Teaching Excellence. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.njit.edu/ite/authentic-assessment
- What is Authentic Assessment? (Authentic Assessment Toolbox). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm
- Wiggins, G. (1998). Educative Assessment: Designing Assessments to Inform and Improve Student Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
