Authentic Assessment Definition

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.

The University’s assessment policy defines authentic assessment as follows:

11 a. (ii) Authentic assessment includes industry and/or profession-based tasks that support and assure learning by enabling students to demonstrate the application of relevant and essential knowledge and skills.

Characteristics of authentic assessment:

Students construct knowledge
Involves metacognition (students are aware of how they’re learning)
Reflects 'real-world' conditions
Skills students acquire are transferable
Allows for multiple indicators of learning
No clear-cut right/wrong answers

Authentic assessment in the Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts approach to authentic assessment:

Recognises the range of disciplines in our Faculty, each with their own methodologies, epistemologies, modes of inquiry; acknowledges and values the interdisciplinary nature of the faculty; and encourages students to draw connections between different fields of study and integrate knowledge from other disciplines
Emphasises the importance of understanding social, cultural, historical, and political contexts
Promotes critical reflection and ethical engagement, providing opportunities for students to think reflexively and critically reflect on their own assumptions, biases, and ethical implications of their work
Foregrounds cultural responsiveness and diversity and sensitivity to issues of equity and inclusion

In practice, authentic assessment in the Faculty of Arts will:

Allow students to practise decision-making, problem-solving, and (self-) evaluative judgement required in their discipline(s) and in interdisciplinary contexts
Consider the 5 common elements (see below) found in authentic assessment
Consider programmatic assessment by implementing AA at key points across each course, integrating IPA (introduced, practised, assessed) scaffolding
Include and relate to work-integrated learning
Promote and manage academic integrity
Integrate digital and electronic assessment methods and skills, including emerging technologies, as appropriate to the relevant discipline(s)
Engage with external and industry stakeholders in a variety of contexts ranging from co-creation of assessment to course reaccreditation, to validate and add authenticity to authentic assessment
Develop students as ethical and engaged global citizens

5 common elements of authentic assessment

A review of the literature distills the following 5 common elements found in authentic assessment: frequency, fidelity, complexity, impact, and feed forward.

1. FREQUENCY

The task is common or fundamental to the discipline, profession or workplace practice. The determination of the frequency to which skills/knowledge are likely to be utilised in a discipline, professional or workplace context involves considering if the skill or knowledge is common and/or fundamental in any of these contexts (i.e. there is an expectation that the skill or knowledge is used repeatedly)

Examples:

Assessment Type	Common Application	Profession
Plan	Requires students to utilise professional writing skills in the development of lesson plans	Teaching
Report	Requires students to utilise professional writing, communication, analysis, and synthesis i the creation of legal memorandum summaries	Legal profession

2. FIDELITY

The task reflects conditions similar to those found in the discipline, profession or workplace.

Examples:

Assessment Type	Conditions	Profession
Poster	Requires students to utilise creativity and communication skills that required used in campaigns by social media managers.	Marketing, public relations
Moot	Requires students to utilise subject matter and topic knowledge, along with communication, and presentation skills used in oral arguments.	Legal profession

3. COMPLEXITY

Complexity in this instance relates to knowledge and skills developed in tasks that are not considered menial. They are often messy, complex issues that call for inquiry-based approaches, creativity, problem-solving and contingent solutions. They can involve independent effort or may require collaboration to complete successfully.

Examples:

Assessment Type	Complexity	Profession
Case study	Requires students to utilise critical thinking and analysis skills used in the development of summaries and reporting.	Historian
Project	Requires students to utilise planning, problem solving, and critical thinking skills used for project management.	Various professions
Debate	Requires student to utilise topic knowledge, communication, synthesis and influencing skills to deliver an oral defence.	Academic

4. IMPACT

When gauging ‘impact’ in terms of authentic assessments, consideration is given to tasks that generate skills and knowledge that have value beyond the educational setting (i.e. their application and utility is not restricted to the assessment). Rather, the skills and knowledge acquired are tangible and have potential for use in real-world settings.

Examples:

Assessment Type	Utility	Impact
Design task	Requires students to utilise creativity, imagination and entrepreneurial skills used to deliver pitches and develop prototypes.	Creation of novel artefacts that may have wide-ranging applications in a professional context.
WIL task	Requires students to utilise skills and knowledge specific to a discipline, profession, or industry.	Attainment of valuable, transferable skills which have value across a variety of professional and life-long learning contexts.

5. FEED FORWARD

The task is part of a sequence, a larger project and/or nested in a programmatic assessment task. This includes milestone assessment, formative assessment, and mastery-based learning.

Examples:

Assessment Type (component)	Feeds into (larger) Assessment Type
Proposal	Project
Annotated bibliography	Report
Literature review	Thesis
Plan	Presentation
Reflective writing	Portfolio

Authentic assessment and work-integrated learning (WIL)

Work-integrated learning is an inter- or extracurricular pedagogical practice whereby students learn through practical experiences and interactions with partners in industry, community, business, and universities (e.g. internships, placements).

WIL and authentic assessment are often used as interchangeable concepts, but they are not synonymous. Rather, they are complementary.

The crucial distinction between the two concepts is that WIL involves an activity/experience where students undertake a partnership with a workplace to engage in a piece of work, whereas authentic assessment can occur in contexts and environments that are not work-related.

Authentic assessment and academic integrity

Authentic assessment constitutes one of the most frequently recommended approaches to managing academic integrity. It can be used to address 2 out of 3 of the strongest empirically supported causes of students’ contract cheating behaviours in Australian universities. See: Ellis, Cath, et al. "Does authentic assessment assure academic integrity? Evidence from contract cheating data." Higher Education Research & Development 39.3 (2020): 454-469.

Authentic assessment, digital skills, and emerging technologies

Digital technologies and skills are a key aspect of real-world professional contexts. Embedding digital skills and tools into assessment facilitates authentic contexts, as follows:

Simulations and virtual environments can mirror real-world scenarios relevant to different disciplines, providing students with hands-on experience and allow them to apply theoretical knowledge in practical contexts, enhancing the authenticity of assessment tasks.
E-Portfolios facilitate the creation of scaffolded projects relevant to their field of study
Digital writing tools can facilitate collaborative writing and analysis, allowing students to engage with texts and peers in authentic ways, enabling real-time communication, data sharing, and collaborative work, fostering a sense of global citizenship, and exposing students to diverse perspectives and methodologies
Multimedia projects showcase students' creativity and demonstrates their ability to adapt contemporary technologies and media formats relevant to their field of study
Expand access and inclusivity, enabling students to participate in authentic assessment regardless of their geographical location or physical abilities
Support iterative processes of revision and refinement, and peer review and collaboration, allowing students to engage in constructive feedback exchanges and collective knowledge-building activities

A further technology related to authentic assessment is artificial intelligence (AI). AI is a tool that will be increasingly integrated in almost every industry, to some degree. It is therefore timely to consider the connection between authentic assessment and AI.

An authentic assessment integrating AI should be one that teaches students how to use AI tools judiciously; that is, how to use these tools and how to critically evaluate their outputs.
Students need to learn the ethics and affordances of AI, and develop an understanding of its limitations in terms of references, depth/accuracy/relevance of information, calibre of written communication, etc.
As AI develops, greater effort will be needed to keep abreast of changes to these industries as we teach.

Authentic assessment and programmatic assessment

When implementing authentic assessment, consideration should be given to the level of the unit in question as well as course learning outcomes. An authentic task at 1000L will naturally look different to one completed at 3000L. Introductory classes can develop soft/transferable skills while introducing the ideas and tools that advanced classes will then assess. An example of authentic assessment incorporating a scaffolded IPA (Introduce, Practice, Assess) approach follows:

1000-level

Tasks focused on remembering and comprehending
Basic critical reflection
Passive engagement with authentic contexts (e.g. observation, site visit)
Introduction to authentic contexts (industry guest lectures, problem-based learning based on industry scenarios)

2000-level

Tasks focused on comprehension, application, and analysis
Critical self-reflection
Moderate engagement with industry and professional contexts (e.g. fieldwork, industry-related research and analysis)
Authentic practices (e.g. presentation, role-play, report)

3000-level

Tasks focused on analysis, evaluation, and creation
Self-reflexive performance evaluation
Active engagement in a workplace setting (e.g. internship, industry mentorship, presentation to external stakeholders)
Assessment of professional skills (e.g. simulation, case study, portfolio)

Authentic assessment and external engagement

As professional disciplinary practitioners, industry and external stakeholders add value to authentic learning and assessment. They may contribute to authentic learning and assessment in several ways, including but not limited to:

Guest lectures
Co-creation of units or assessments
Participation in, or observation of, assessment: e.g. as an audience for presentations, or providing feedback on a simulation
Through involvement in unit review and course reaccreditation processes
Hosting site visits
Hosting students in placements and internships (work-integrated learning)