/Office of the Provost
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Authentic Assessment

Authentic assessment is a form of assessment that involves evaluating a student's performance or understanding of a subject in a real-world context. Unlike traditional assessments, which often rely on standardized tests or exams, authentic assessments ask students to apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful and relevant ways. Ultimately an assessment is authentic if it...

  • is realistic in that it resembles a real-world situation, problem, disciplinary norm, or field of study.
  • requires judgment and innovation
  • asks the student to “do” the subject
  • replicates or simulates situations in which adults are “tested” in the workplace or personal life
  • assesses the student’s ability to use their knowledge and skills to negotiate a complex task
  • provides opportunity to develop, practice, consult resources and receive feedback on and refine performances and products
  • incorporates metacognition, or an opportunity for students to reflect on their learning
  • involves collaboration in cases where the work would be team based in the field

Authentic assessments can take many forms, including performance tasks, projects, portfolios, case studies, simulations, and observations. The chart below shows the difference between typical tests and authentic tasks, and also indicators of authenticity according to Wiggins (1998).

 

  • Relevant and meaningful: Authentic assessments are designed to be relevant to real-world contexts. By requiring students to apply their knowledge and skills in authentic situations, authentic assessments help students understand the relevance of what they are learning.
  • Promotes deeper learning: Authentic assessments often require students to engage in higher-order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. This promotes deeper learning, as students are required to apply their knowledge in more complex ways.
  • Individualized assessment: Authentic assessments can be designed to be individualized, allowing students to demonstrate their unique abilities and skills. This helps avoid the limitations of standardized tests, which may not reflect the full range of student abilities.
  • Provides feedback: Authentic assessments provide students with specific feedback on their performance, which can help them improve their learning. The feedback can also be used by teachers to adjust their teaching methods to better meet the needs of individual students.
  • Time-consuming: Authentic assessments are often more time-consuming to design, administer, and grade than traditional assessments. This can be a challenge for teachers who have limited time and resources.
  • Subjective: Because authentic assessments require students to apply their knowledge in unique ways, grading can be more subjective than traditional assessments. This can lead to inconsistency in grading and potential bias.
  • Difficulty in comparing: It may be difficult to compare the results of different students who have completed different authentic assessment tasks, which can make it challenging to measure and report student achievement.
  • Potential for cheating: Authentic assessments often require more open-ended responses than traditional assessments, which can make them more vulnerable to cheating.

Examples of Authentic Assessment

These are tasks that require students to demonstrate their understanding of a subject by performing a specific task. Examples include:

  • Conducting a scientific experiment and writing a report
  • Writing a research paper 
  • Creating a multimedia presentation 

These are extended assignments that require students to apply their knowledge and skills to solve a real-world problem. Examples include:

  • Designing and building a prototype of a new product
  • Planning and executing a community service project
  • Developing a business plan for a new venture

These are collections of student work that demonstrate their understanding of a subject over time. Examples include:

  • A collection of essays, research papers, and other written work
  • A digital portfolio showcasing artwork, music, or video projects
  • A teaching portfolio showcasing lesson plans, assessments, and student work

These are in-depth analyses of a real-world situation, often in the context of a specific field of study. Examples include:

  • Analyzing a business case study to identify potential solutions
  • Examining a patient case study to diagnose and treat a medical condition
  • Evaluating a legal case study to argue for or against a particular position

These are interactive experiences that allow students to apply their knowledge and skills in a realistic environment. Examples include:

  • A virtual lab simulation 
  • A business simulation that allows students to run a company 
  • A simulation of a historical event that requires students to make decisions and see the consequences

These involve observing and evaluating student behavior in a real-world context. Examples include:

  • Observing a student teaching a lesson and providing feedback
  • Conducting a performance evaluation of a student's work on a job or internship
  • Observing a student's behavior in a social situation and analyzing their communication skills

 

Getting Started with Authentic Assessment

The University of Illinois, Chicago summarizes the following steps to incorporating authentic assessment methods in your course:

  1. Utilize backward design principles by aligning the authentic assessments to the course learning objectives, disciplinary norms, practices, and transferable or workforce readiness skills.
    1. What should students know and be able to do? 
    2. Are their discipline specific practices that should be incorporated into the assessment?
    3. Will students demonstrate transferable of workforce readiness skills in completing the assessment task?
  2. Determine the goals of the authentic assessment
    1. Will the authentic assessment allow students to demonstrate proficiency in the learning objectives, while developing self-regulation and metacognition skills?
    2. Will the authentic assessment have opportunities for practice, feedback, and improvement?
    3. Will the authentic assessment collect valid and reliable data to confirm student outcomes?
  3. Develop the assessment by determining the following
    1. Authenticity: What elements of the assessment will make it authentic (e.g. realism, simulation, task complexity, etc.)?
    2. Format: Will the format be a product or performance? Will the format be student-selected or instructor-selected?
    3. Students’ and instructor’s role: What will be the level of responsibility for student ownership of learning? What forms of guidance and authentic learning will you provide for student support?
    4. Timeline and Progress: What will be the timeline for completion/preparation of the authentic assessment task? How will progress be monitored by the students and instructor?
    5. Deliverables: What items or elements of the authentic assessment will be graded?
    6. Feedback: What will be the frequency of feedback? Who will provide the feedback? Will there be an opportunity for students to provide feedback to the instructor on their experience?
    7. Grading: What are the grading criteria for this authentic assessment? How will these criteria be explained so that students understand the expectations? (TIP: consider using a rubric.)
  4. Review and reflect on the data from and implementation of the authentic assessment to inform continuous improvement for equitable student outcomes

 

Additional Resources