Authentic assessment measures a student’s ability to undertake meaningful, practical activities and tasks relevant to real-world contexts.
It provides students with the opportunity to apply a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills, while also providing educators with the opportunity to obtain a more accurate and complete picture of a student's learning.
It is defined in the Assessment policy with principle (a) , yet a coherent and clear guide on implementation is required specific to the Humanities and Social Sciences.
4.1 - Faculty Authentic Assessment Definition
This approach encourages the creation of authentic assessments that mirror real-world scenarios, enhancing the relevance and applicability of learning.
The goal of authentic assessment is to link theory to practice while increasing students’ intrinsic motivation, and engagement, and as a means of promoting academic integrity.
This draws the focus beyond traditional definitions of WIL and we are positioning WIL itself as a subset of this definition to allow for broader authentic assessment types which are not work-related.
4.2 - Authentic Assessment Implementation Guidelines
Clear opportunities and procedures for increasing Authentic Assessment across course levels will be delivered through a set of guidelines to make it simpler and more efficient to introduce into our units.
This will help to ensure stakeholders that assessment is fit for purpose, that it has both intrinsic and extrinsic value to students and reduces the likelihood of breaches to academic integrity.
It will also help to allow students to build examples of CLO attainment and generate portfolio components through the intrinsic value that exists in the products of Authentic Assessment tasks.
4.3 - Assessment Pathways with Industry
The Faculty is well versed in involving industry partners in the accreditation of our units and also engaging with a multitude of partners through our PACE program.
We aim to extend this engagement to include more opportunities for the design, review and marking of assessment, and showcase events.
By engaging with industry, government and the broader community directly with student assessment, we will foster a deeper understanding of the links between our sectors and also allow students to see the wider value of every task they undertake.