Get Your Students Hired
When developing an authentic assessment consider the task and allow the students to be creative while developing it. Authentic assessments will allow the instructor to refine their instruction based on the outcome of the assessment. Break down the assessment into specific steps to be evaluated. Get input from the students.
There are several types of authentic assessments. Embedded assessments can collect information about the students' learning to determine how to proceed with the next lesson. There may be times when information may need to be reinforced based on the information gained.
Portfolios, case studies and problem-based learning are examples of embedded assessments. Portfolios can present information showing student development of competency. There are several types of portfolios, depending on the purpose. The showcase portfolio will include the best finished pieces of the students' work. Growth portfolios will show the progress of the students' work. Evaluation portfolio is the final type of portfolio.
Case studies are widely used to show a breakdown of a solution to a problem or issue. We use a lot of case studies in nursing school. One type of case study involves having the students act out a scenario to demonstrate their ability to care for a client with a particular problem. We have also utilized reverse case studies. For the reverse case study, the group of students are given a particular set of problems that a client may have. The group of students do the research to create a story including the risk factors, signs/symptoms, treatment, complications, etc. The group will act out the scenario.