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AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT VS STANDARD ASSESSMENT

 

    Authentic Assessment is “Multiple forms of assessment that are consistent with classroom goal, curricula, and instruction”(O'Malley and Pierce, 1996, p. 2). During Authentic assessment students are allowed to show what they have learned by doing tasks that align with overall goals of the lesson, the standards that are addressed.However,during standard westernized assessment, students are asked to show what they learned using a test that may have true or false, multiple choice, matching, or open-ended questions. Many times these tests do not show what students really know. For example, if I was teaching how to use various weather instruments, I would not test their ability to use weather instruments through a paper-based traditional assessment. Instead I would use a performance assessment where a student has to orally tell me how they use each instrument. By using authentic assessment, the student is allowed to show what they know by explaining it in their own words. I would not give a paper based test because it doesn't align to how I taught them how to use the instruments, the ability to actually use it, or their ability to be able to explain how to use it. 

   
 

WHY I CHOSE TO USE AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT

 

     I wanted to assess how my students’ progress in their ability to write on a topic when it is aligned with cultural knowledge presented in an Augmented Reality game. Students will begin with the writing topic “How would you survive in a post-apocalyptic world?” I wanted to have a baseline for their knowledge before I began.  I will use their journals and digital stories to show what they learned after the unit. Many of my students come to school with an immense amount of knowledge about their natural world and living a subsistence lifestyle. I chose to ask this question because I wanted my students to see how they could use their funds of knowledge in different situations. In the game, they will be trying to help their characters survive a post-apocalyptic world by using knowledge from elders, their own funds of knowledge, and research they perform.  I wanted the prompt to correlate to the game and what information they will be presented in the context of the game. I chose to focus on writing because it is a great way for students to express themselves and to use the knowledge they are learning.  

    Not only will I be assessing their knowledge through writing samples, but I will also be doing formative assessments through checklists,oral assessments, conferencing, and digital stories. The students will be using checklists to make sure that they are staying on task throughout each week of the project and completing all of the activities.  I will also be conferencing students about their writing, what they are learning, what information would help them complete each week’s assignment, and what they like and dislike about the project. Finally, I will be using a summative assessment 6-traits rubric to grade their narrative journal writing pieces, and a digital story rubric for their digital story.