authentic assessment

Authentic Assessment- readings.
This book is good for theory and some practical advise about authentic assessment and its role in social constructivist/ authentic learning.
Editors David D Williams, Scott L Howell & Mary Hricko (2005)
Online assessment measurement and evaluation: emerging practices, USA
Information Science Publishing
Chapter 1- Measurement and assessment supporting evaluation in online settings
By David D Williams 2006 the Ideas Group Incorporated
What to think about when planning authentic assessment.
-Context of the assessment and the learning
-Who are the stakeholders
-Issues relating to the evaluand ( one being evaluated)
-Issues and concerns
-Values and criteria
-Questions
-Data collection and analysis
-Reporting results
-Recommendations
Assessments are for

1 programs
2 personnel
3 students
Think about their
-utility
-feasibility
-proprietary
-accuracy

“Measurement may be defined as the set of rules for transforming behaviors
into categories or numbers. Constructing an instrument to measure a social
science variable involves several steps, including conceptualizing the
behaviors that operationally define the variable, drafting items that indicate
the behaviors, administering draft items to try out samples, refining the
instrument based on item analysis, and performing reliability and validity
studies. These studies are necessary to ensure that scores on the instrument
are consistent and have evidence of adequately representing a construct.
Two theoretical approaches dominate the field of measurement: classical
test theory and item response theory. (Petrosko, 2005, p. 47)

From the Greek, ‘to sit with’, assessment means an evaluative determination.
Roughly synonymous with testing and evaluation in lay terms, assessment
has become the term of choice in education for determining the quality of
student work for purposes of identifying the student’s level of achievement.
A more important distinction is between the terms assessment and
Measurement because educational constructs such as achievement, like
most social phenomena cannot be directly measured but can be assessed.
(Mabry, 2005, p. 22)

Evaluation is an applied inquiry process for collecting and synthesizing
evidence that culminates in conclusions about the state of affairs, value,
merit, worth, significance, or quality of a program, product, person, policy,
proposal, or plan. Conclusions made in evaluations encompass both an
empirical aspect (that something is the case) and a normative aspect
(judgment about the value of something). It is the value feature that
distinguishes evaluation from other types of inquiry, such as basic science
research, clinical epidemiology, investigative journalism, or public polling.
(Fournier, 2005, pp. 139140)”

Smita Mathur (2005) Authentic Assessment online:a practical and theoretical challenge in higher education in Eds David D Williams, Scott L Howell & Mary Hricko (2005), Online assessment measurement and evaluation: emerging practices, USA, Information Science Publishing pp 238-

Because of increased online enrolments, mostly adult and mature age- the need for practical and authentic experience has increased as well as the increase in social constructivism, Dewey, Vygotsky etc

Authentic means using real life problems and projects that allow students to explore and discuss these problems in ways that are relevant to them
Pedagogy, learning theory and authentic assessment are the three components of social constructivism
Assessment is integral to the learning process
Instead of the curriculum driving the assessment, the assessment drives the curriculum.
. includes journaling, discussion, self tests
online, asynchronous learning offers a second wave of more opportunities to use social constructivism and authentic learning/assessment.

“-It supports lifelong learning.” Here there seems to me to be two uses of the word lifelong- they mean here learning is transformative and last for the rest of your life. But
lifelong learning. Ie learning more and more for the whole trajectory of you life can also be stimulated by learning deeply and authentically this way.
-“It shifts the instructional paradigm from “a teaching environment to a learning
environment, with a focus on ‘practice-centered learning’” (Campbell, 2004, p. 3). So this becomes student centered
-“It provides communication tools that support dialog within and between diverse communities of learners.” A good process for geographical boundaries and globalisation of learning.
-“It fosters the collaboration needed for scaffolding, support, and shared meaning making.” This fits in with the idea that curriculum is not static or discipline based and that learning is socially constructed, based on real life experiences and that collaborative approaches are the new way of maximizing human knowledge.
“Through meaningful dialog, it supports “deep learning” (Slack et al., 2003, p. 306).”One of the main issues is that we don’t need regurgitated facts that any computer can do. We need to teach people how to use their capacity for thought
-“It provides easy access to broad, deep sources of information.” This is really what the information revolution is about and how to negotiate the process of too much and mostly irrelevant information.
-“It supports meaningful interaction with this information”. So is there a point to information unless you can use it and apply it meaningfully to you and your needs.? This theory would say no.
-It provides a flexibility and convenience for learners that are not feasible in the
traditional face-to-face classroom (Wilson & Lowry, 2000).” Certainly the asynchronous approach crossing boundaries of time and place has proved popular and fills a need.
Assessment is both- Formative
And -Summative
Using Assessment rubrics
Peer and instructor feedback
Monitoring of online discussions, journals and portfolios.
Case based problem solving
Assessing Prior knowledge
Skills in synthesis creative thinking, learner attitudes values and self-awareness, reactions to the learning environment reactions to group work.
Reflective thoughts, invented dialogue, student opinion polls and feedback, self and group assessment are authentic tools
Assessment is a holistic ongoing process
Obstacles
“ 1 Perceptions of Authentic Assessment as Too Labor Intensive— requires timely feedback, as that is the basis of learning. And this is true to some extent.
2/ Perceptions that it is too labor intensive and time consuming.
3 questions of validity and reliability of testing- in authentic learning this must be based on individual student needs” so therefore there is no reliability or validity. This is an important issue especially as people are caught into the need to pass courses, obtain a certificate, show qualifications and receive reward.
Plan
1 Acquire resources
2 empower students and teachers with computer literacy skills
3 plan and execute pre assessment activities
assessment occurs before, during and after an authentic learning experience- embedded assessment- This is an important set of points.

electronic portfolio allows the student to display their learning progress towards achieving the learning objectives
advantages
“Electronic portfolios can be edited, updated, retrieved, and instantly made available
to several people simultaneously.
Electronic portfolios are user friendly. Voice recordings, digital pictures, and
videos by the student, teacher, peers, and other raters can personalize electronic
portfolios.
Electronic portfolios are designed to accept instant feedback from teachers, peers,
and area experts, and provide exceptional flexibility to the process of learning and
assessment.
Electronic portfolios make it possible to cross-reference a student’s work across
content areas. Different parts of the curriculum can be connected and cross-referenced
easily.
Since it is possible to store, cross-reference, and retrieve student portfolios easily,
instructors and administrators can retrieve student work from past semesters and
years to display them as examples for future students.
Vividly describe the learning process”
Really not much difference to real time portfolios except the ease of use.

Electronic journal entries
Student directed reflective practice or
instructor directed
Advantages
“E-journals help in understanding changing contexts of learning and modifying
expectations of tasks as needed.
Peers, experts, and instructors alike may review the entries and respond to
questions and problems. Since it is possible to receive frequent and immediate
responses, electronic journal entries often foster relationship building.
E-journals are an important way of obtaining multiple perspectives to a problem and
eliciting several solutions to a problem.
E-journaling is used to brainstorm and reflect on one’s own work and that of others.
Online journaling provides a collaborative learning environment that encourages
students to question and to resolve difficulties within a social context.
Sharing journal entries helps students see how others think and work.”
Is this what is really happening?

Online discussions
Embedded assessment in online discussions which displays collaborative learning, problem solving, critical thinking. I think that this creates a problem for some people who will be afraid to really use discussion to learn if they know that it is assessed. The incidence of lurking will invariably increase.
Some ideas-
“Consider collaboratively developing a rubric with the students that will be used to
grade online discussion groups. Several rubrics are available on the World Wide
Web that can be modified to fit the achievement goals.
This would surely waste a lot of time in most courses.
Provide students with a clear understanding of expectations and what are considered
acceptable postings. For example, it is important to state that postings that
merely agree or disagree with another opinion do not accrue points. An appropriate
posting must be a supported argument or question based on reading, research, and
reflection. Students must also be aware of the expected length and frequency of
postings. They should have a clear understanding of appropriate ways to cite
quotations and views expressed by other authors.
Already I see trouble- negotiated arguments, posting for the sake of assessment rather than real learning, overloading of the discussions and discrimination against those who take longer to research and think and who are shy to post their thoughts.
Inform students of ways to communicate professionally and ethically in an online
environment. For example, using all capital letters is considered rude and compromises reading fluency.
Provide students with effective and ineffective examples of postings that can serve
as models. This helps students frame their initial postings, as they get comfortable
with online discussion forums.
Provide students sufficient time to get comfortable in expressing themselves in
writing in an asynchronous learning environment. Voice recordings and digital
images that support the discussion can be used frequently to increase the
effectiveness of an online discussion forum. It is important to recognize that in an
online class, not all students have the same computer configurations. There must
be a mechanism built in whereby students with better computer configurations do
not emerge better than students who are working with less capable computers. And bandwidths
Provide frequent encouraging and challenging comments. Ah now how to gauge what is too little and what is too much and what the right timing might be given that synchronous warps a sense of time. For example a student who works once a week will have a different concept of timing in feedback than one who works daily. Does the teacher need to assess each individuals pattern of use?
Ensure strong social presence (Short et al., 1976) of each member of the learning
group. The authors have found that this is critical for successful online discussions.”
I look forward to hearing from the other teams how this can be done.

Online self testing
Quick, easy, instant feedback, can repeat the testing for learning – for example short answer or MCQs Having used these myself in the past I can vouch for there usefulness so long as the questions are well designed. They do tend to test curriculum rather than reflective thought however.

Rubrics
Standardizes testing
Can be unwieldy and hard to assess but they seem fair to a student to let them know the process.


Authentic assessment needs to be culturally, racially fair and equal by using multiple raters- peers, self, facilitator and individual performance. This expands the nightmare of assessment overload.. Are there no more standards then?
Just some thoughts about this interesting book
Joyce