Constructing Answers Out of Old and New Knowledge

Traditional ------------------------Authentic

Selecting a Response ------------Performing a Task

Contrived --------------------------Real-life

Recall/Recognition --------------Construction/Application

Teacher-structured --------------Student-structured

Indirect Evidence ---------------Direct Evidence

The use of authentic assessment does not take away the need for traditional assessments. When used in conjunction with one another, they complement each other. A student who is assessed using both authentic and traditional assessment will be kept on track and the teacher will know exactly where they student needs help. When students have to construct a response based on their interpretation of the material, new knowledge is gained and it can be shared with their peers.

In order to create authentic assessment, the teacher must know what the students need to know to meet the standards. Next, a task must be given to see if the student can perform well on the task and apply their knowledge so that the product is creative. The product is based on a criteria or a rubric which has all the requirements and what score will be given for meeting such criteria.

Authentic assessments are real-life meaningful applications that are driven by the students. It is not memorization or teacher-structured. Students need to get more out of a lesson than a grade. What I really like about authentic assessment is that you are catching any misconceptions that the student has about the material BEFORE the Unit is over. Diagnostic feedback is the best way to provide students with the best growth and maximum learning potential. There are different types of authentic assessment: selected response like multiple choice and true/false tests; constructed responses like short answer (product) and measuring objects (performance) and products like essays or podcasts.