Welcome to the ‘Creating Authentic Assessments for Agency and Equity’ course, which was developed with Caleb Curfman from Northland Community and Technical College, USA.
Click here to view the video transcript
Hi, I’m Caleb Curfman. I teach at Northland Community Technical College and also Bemidji State University in Northern Minnesota in the United States. I teach both history and political science, as well as work in the Center for Teaching and Learning. I’m very interested in authentic assessment. This is something that I have been looking into since I started teaching at the college level for the last seven years going away from the traditional assessments that I had seen and providing new opportunities for students to demonstrate both what they know and different ways of showing what they can do.
This course fundamentally reconceptualizes assessment as a tool for learning rather than merely measurement. Drawing on recent scholarship and practical experience, you’ll discover how authentic assessment (evaluation of student learning through real-world, meaningful tasks that demonstrate applied learning) promotes student agency while creating more equitable learning environments. We’ll explore why traditional summative assessments often create unnecessary barriers and how authentic approaches provide richer, more meaningful evidence of student learning. Through concrete examples and step by step strategies, you’ll learn to design assessments that honor diverse ways of knowing, reduce academic misconduct through genuine engagement, and transform your classroom into a space where all students can demonstrate their true capabilities.
“When we challenge our students to do something that is unique to them, but also something that is a challenge, it provides them with opportunities to practice skills that go far beyond the discipline that we’re teaching.”
Get Involved And Share Your Learning
- Share your perspective. Throughout this course, you will see discussion prompts at the end of each lesson inviting you to share your thoughts and experience. We encourage you to respond to these discussion questions and read those of other educators to benefit from theirs. When you see a comment you agree with or find helpful, hit the ‘Like’ button to help other educators find it. You can also reply to any comments from other members that you find interesting.
- Ask a question. You can ask questions of experts and other educators in the discussion threads in courses.
- Pick up your course badges. To earn your Course Completion Badges make sure you mark all lessons as ‘Mark Complete’ once you have completed a lesson. At the end of the course, click ‘Mark Complete’ and you will be asked a few multiple-choice questions to earn a Course Completion badge. Once you’ve had a chance to apply your learning, come back to complete an Impact Badges by applying what you have learned in the courses and answering a short survey.
If you have any questions or issues, please email us at [email protected].
Discussions
Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.