Key messages to take away

The first key message is that authentic assessment is fundamentally about student choice and agency and voice. These are things that help us show our learners that we don’t only care about what they can provide on a assignment, we wanna see how they can grow beyond that assignment. What are the things they can take from our disciplines and help them become more well-rounded individuals? Help them grow in this. And so, at the heart of authentic assessment, it is about students’ choice to change or make change in the world around them.

The second key is that equity is not an add-on to a good assignment. It is fundamental to an assignment. If we can provide opportunities for students that take away barriers that might be, and often are completely unintended consequences of certain types of assignments, we can now have them demonstrate knowledge of what we’re actually asking for. For example, in an assignment, if we want students to demonstrate their ability to evaluate multiple perspectives, if we ask them to do that in any way they want, instead of ask them to do that in a paper or in a video where they may not have access to the internet, you know, what are those barriers? What are those things that aren’t part of it? And so equity is in the center of authentic assessment.

And finally, authentic assessment provides strong evidence of student learning. It provides the opportunity for us to see not only what students know, but how they can apply it to their lives. And so by using this, by using authentic assessment in classes, we are able to not only change what happens in our classroom, but change things that happen beyond the classroom, as students find deeper connections to the material, to the content, and see why it actually matters.

If I were to give you one tip as we are ending this course, please remember to start small. Try one assignment in one class. Try providing a few other options for students in an assignment, whether it is writing or audio, or video, or a creative piece of art. Provide those choices. Start small and then start working towards providing more conversations with students about this. One of these challenges as I’ve addressed earlier, is that students often are resistant to change to something out of the norm. And so by starting small, by being transparent with your students about why you’re doing something and how it’s going to benefit them, and you and quite honestly everybody involved when you get to the local projects, you are opening the door for true learning to happen.

Thank you so much for engaging in this class, and if you have questions, comments, or things to add, please include them in the comments below. I hope you are now ready to look at your classes, look at the assignments, and find ways to promote learning and use authentic assessments in a way that’s going to challenge your students in the best of ways to find solutions that really matter both to you, to your discipline and your communities.