Authentic-based Assessment

Carlo Magno, PhD

Answer the following Questions

What makes tasks authentic? Give an example of tasks that are

authentic. How will you assess this task?

Authentic tasks (Wiggins, 1998)

Six Standards for Judging the Degree of Authenticity

A. Is realistic – The task replicates the ways in which a person’s knoweldge and abilities are tested in real world situations.

B. Requires judgment and innovation – The student has to use knowledge and skills to solve unstructured problems, and solution involves more than following a set of rules.

Authentic tasks (Wiggins, 1998)

C. Asks the students to do the subject – the student has to carry out exploration and work within the discipline of the subject area, rather than restating what is already known.

D. Replicates or simulates the contents in which adults are tested in the workplace, in civic life, and personal life – Contexts involve specific situations that have particular constraints , purposes, and audiences. Students need to experience what it is like to do tasks in the workplace or real life context.

Authentic tasks (Wiggins, 1998)

E. Assesses the student’s ability to efficiently and effectively use a repertoire of knowledge and skill to negotiate a complex task – Students should be required to integrate all knowledge and skills needed, rather than demonstrate competence of isolated knowledge and skills.

Authentic tasks (Wiggins, 1998)

F. Allows appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practice, consult resources, and get feedback on and refine performances and products – Rather than rely on secure tests as an audit of performance, learning should be focused through cycles of performance-feedback-revision-performance, on the production of known high quality products and standards, and learning in context.

Authentic tasks (Newmann, 1992)

Construction of meaning (use of reasoning and higher-order thinking skills) Organization of information Consideration of alternatives

Disciplined Inquiry (thinking like “experts” searching for in-depth understanding) Disciplinary content Disciplinary process Elaborated written communication

Authentic tasks (Newmann, 1992)

Value beyond school (aesthetic, utilitarian, or personal value apart form documenting the competence of the learner) Problem connected to the world Audience beyond the school

Definition

Authentic tasks “demand construction of knowledge through disciplined inquiry and result in discourse, products, and performance that have value or meaning beyond success in school.