Module 2 (AoL2)
Module 2 (AoL2)
Introduction
This module entitled ‘Authentic Assessment and Tools’ covers the definition, phases, and
advantages of authentic assessment as well as the tools in performing this type of assessment.
January 25 (3 hours)
I. Objectives
At the end of the end of this module, students should be able to:
1. Define authentic assessment.
2. Enumerate the characteristics and phases of authentic assessment.
3. Contrast authentic assessment from traditional assessment.
4. Give examples of tools used for authentic assessment.
II. Lecture
Merriam-Webster (2020) defined the word ‘authentic’ as “worthy of acceptance or belief as
conforming to or based on fact”. In the context of assessment, what makes a task, skill, or a project authentic?
Aren’t all skills authentic because they are done in real-life by learners?
To answer these two questions, I’ll say all tasks done in real-life are authentic. The problem lies in
how teachers could determine whether these genuine skills of the learners already passed their objectives.
Let us first digress into the definition of some terms that will be discussed in this module. The first
key word is ‘assessment’. According to Navarro and Santos (2013), assessment refers to “the process of
gathering data and information about what students know and can do”. Teachers can obtain data regarding
students’ skills, learnings, and experiences through assessment tools such as pen-and-paper test, one-on-
one interviews, project presentations, and the like. This process allows the teacher to examine what exactly
did the students learn and how do they use it for a certain task.
The term ‘evaluation’, according to Navarro and Santos (2013), refers to the action of critiquing and
interpreting the data collected from the learners through assessment and to provide a conclusion or
judgement regarding the students’ current level of competency. As the pair suggests, information gathered
through assessment is has little utility value until it is used to determine whether the certain individual has
passed the competency level prescribed in the learning objectives.
We also have the term ‘testing’ which is basically the process of administering assessment tools to
gather the needed information from the learners. In this regards, a ‘test’ simply means assessment tool meant
to show the current levels of competencies that the learners have.
Finally, we have the term “marks” which are essentially reports of the results of the evaluation of the
learners’ data that was acquired during the assessment process. Marks are commonly divided into certain
parts that are related to the objectives, content, or activity that was previously done by the learners. These
parts are also considered as the “criteria” for evaluating learners. For example, in our class, the ‘mark’ or
grade of a learner is divided into quizzes, paperwork, and exams which bear 30%, 30%, and 40% of your
mark, respectively.
Assessment is done using a huge variety of assessment tools such as paper tests, presentations,
reporting, portfolios, journals, rubric-scored demonstrations or performances, and the likes. The tool depends
on what the teacher wants to measure and how he/she could justify using these tools to properly assess the
learners. The scores themselves or the qualitative marks given by the teacher after the assessment is an
example of evaluation. Another recognizable example of evaluation is a learner’s general average per each
grading period.
In modern times, assessment is usually documented in line with the pursuit of higher educational
institutions to showcase and recognize the competencies achieved by the learners for the duration of the
course.
Authentic Assessment
Now that the preliminary terms are discussed, let us talk about authentic assessment. How could we
say that assessment is authentic when the whole point of assessment is only to gather data? Pause for a
minute and think.
The main argument on using a particular assessment tool is its accuracy. A teacher must justify why
an assessment tool is appropriate for measuring information on a competency. Accuracy is one of the
characteristics of an authentic assessment.
Mueller (2018) defined authentic assessment as “a form of assessment in which students are asked
to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills.” This
definition asserts that in order for an assessment to be considered as authentic, it must focus on making the
learners apply their knowledge in a contrived or real-world environment.
Wiggins (1993, cited from Mueller, 2018) has defined authentic assessment as “engaging and worthy
problems or questions of worthy importance, in which students must use knowledge to fashion performances
effectively and creatively. The tasks are either replicas of or analogous to the kinds of problems faced by
adult citizens and consumers or professionals in the field”. Essentially, authentic assessment is comprised
of tests anchored on real-life skills that practitioners of the field manifests in their career. For example, an
aspiring pianist should be assessed on whether they could replicate a certain classical piece and incorporate
their own style into the rendition. Another example is when an aspiring accountant is assessed based on how
they can tally the given data and give their evaluation of it after studying it.
Wiggins definition also complements Stiggins (1987, cited from Mueller, 2018) who defined authentic
assessment as “Performance assessments call upon the examinee to demonstrate specific skills and
competencies, that is, to apply the skills and knowledge they have mastered”. Note that authentic assessment
is also called as performance assessment, alternative assessment, and direct assessment (Navarro and
Santos, 2013).
What is evident in all the definitions of authentic assessment (AA) is that they must force the learners
to demonstrate their skills through tests that aim to imitate the real-life scenarios in which they would actually
integrate said skills.
1. AA starts with clear and definite criteria of performance made known to students.
Authentic assessment starts with the learners knowing what they are expected to learn and perform
as well as to how they would be assessed in their skills. This is in line with the principle of setting objectives
that implies the need for learners to be informed of the objectives rather than go straight to teaching.
3. AA requires students to make their own answers to questions rather than select them
from given options as in multiple choice items, and requires them to use a range of
higher-order thinking skills.
We know from Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Learning that the ability to create or simply “Creating”
is the highest level of cognitive prowess. Connecting this with the notion that authentic assessment tests the
creativity of learners, we could imply that AA forces learners to achieve the highest level of cognitive
knowledge in order to properly perform the tasks inside the tests.
6. AA does not encourage rote learning and passive taking of tests; instead, students are
required to demonstrate analytical skills, ability to integrate what they learn, creativity,
and ability to work in a group, skills in oral and written communications. In brief, AA
values not only the finished products which are learning outcomes, but also the process
of learning
What this characteristic of AA implies is that learning could be assessed in two parts; the product
(objectives) and the process (how they achieved the objective). These two parts were the highlights of
different approaches to assessment as they cause a divide and debate whether which is more important.
Teachers should integrate both of these parts interdependently in order to ensure holistic learning. Learners
who are developed holistically could easily be integrated into the society and their workplace due to their
individual and group skills.
7. AA changes the role of students as passive test takers into becoming active and
involved participants in assessment activities that emphasize what they are capable of
doing instead tests to measure students’ skills or retained facts has come under scrutiny
because of the limitation encountered in determining the students’ capability to utilize
their knowledge and skills in work and professional practice. At best, these tests are
able to give a “snap shot” of the students’ ability to recall facts and information at a
given time but fail to provide a “moving picture” of how they perform in real-world
situations which exist in the workplace.
Traditional assessment tools such as paper tests usually test only the learners’ ability to recall
important information that was taught during the lessons. These memories often serve little to no purpose in
the workplace and does not show how a learner could actually function in the society. Authentic assessment,
due to its nature of constantly testing the abilities of learners to apply what they have learned in a creative
manner, addresses the gap left by these traditional assessment tools. As Navarro and Santos (2013) also
added, “getting the correct answers on a (traditional) test does not necessarily include critical thinking”.
Table 1. Differences between Traditional Assessment and Authentic Assessment (Retrieved from Navarro
and Santos, 2013)
Teachers are encouraged to use a developmental checklist for the whole class. Below is an example
of a group developmental checklist.
Competency in Reporting
Speaks slowly States a sentence without Able to put brief Speaks
Name and with pauses or incorrect substantiations and opinions properly and in
reservations. pronunciations. on some scripted sentences. impromptu.
Abaoag, P. January 7 January 18 January 22
Benitez, A. January 6 January 15 January 20 January 28
Carlos, L.
Fernandez, T. January 7
Fernandez, Z. January 8 January 16 January 17
Another checklist, called the observation checklist, is another observation tool used to quantify a
teacher’s observational data.
Name: Topic/Activity:
Rating
Attributes:
5 4 3 2 1
Clarity of presentation
Opportunity for class interaction
Organization
Grammar and Syntax
Provision of Summary
Another example of an observation tool is the interview sheet which is also called the ‘conference
recording form’. This tool consists of questions that the learners as tasked to answer while the teacher records
their answers.
Interview on Literary Criticism
Student Name:
Interviewer Name:
Course and Section:
Subject:
Selected Literary Piece:
Date:
Actual Performance are milestones in learners’ ability to demonstrate the learning objectives. One
assessment tool used in this category is the performance checklist which is “a list of behaviors that make
up a certain type of performance (e.g., using a microscope, preparing a letter, solving a mathematics
performance, etc.)” (Navarro and Santos, 2013). This tool is used to determine whether a certain individual
exhibits a behavior in a desired manner when tasked to perform a particular activity. It such a behavior is
observed, then the teacher simply marks the checklist for the student.
An example of a performance checklist is listed below:
Behaviors:
____1. Extracts the correct information.
____2. Makes compact and neat slides.
____3. Uses appropriate transitions and animations.
____4. Uses hyperlinks for interactivity.
____5. Does not clutter the slide with information.
____6. Uses unobstructive themes.
____7. Observes the contrast of colors of the background and foreground.
Oral questioning is assessment tool for actual performance which is used to assess the learners’
knowledge or determine the learners’ ability to cohesively communicate their ideas to others (Navarro and
Santos, 2013). Utilizing this tool requires the learners to have a good or stable mental and emotional state of
mind which means that they should not be anxious or nervous as these undesirable traits hamper the
learners’ ability to express themselves properly.
An assessment tool that could complement oral questioning is self-report checklists. As the name
suggests, self-report checklists are a list of behaviors that are expected to be manifested by the learners.
This list is given to learners in order for them to check their growth and development in the course. Once the
listed behavior is observed, they are simply going to mark or check the list.
III. Activity
For your activity, I will upload a set of Google Forms in our Google Classroom for you to answer.
IV. Assessment
You will do your assessment in groups of 4. Your task is to make a sample Individual and Group
developmental checklist, Observation Checklist, Interview sheet, and performance checklist. Each should
have a separate topic based on the lessons in your Major (area of specialization).
For each assessment tool, you are going to write a brief paragraph that justifies the reason why you
put your selected competencies, tasks, behavior, or questions in your assessment tool.
Encode your work in a single document and upload it in our Google Classroom. Do not forget to put
your name and the name of your groupmates, course, section, and date on the upper part of the document.
Only one member of the group has to upload their work. Put your name and your group mates name on the
private comment (description box) when you upload the file.
V. Other References
• Navarro, Rosita L. and De Guzman-Santos, Rosita (2013) Authentic Assessment of
Student Learning Outcomes 2 (2nd Edition). Lorimar Publishing, Inc. Quezon City, Manila
• http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm
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