INTEGRATING AUTHENTIC

ASSESSMENT INTO
CURRICULUM TO LEVERAGE
STUDENT LEARNING
Dr. Helen Cleak, PhD Adjunct, Associate Professor
School of Allied Health, Human Service and Sport
La Trobe University, Australia

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I acknowledge the
traditional owners of the
land on which I am
meeting today, and
acknowledge the
important role
Indigenous people
continue to play within
the University
community.
www.reconciliation.qut.edu.au Copyright to Helen Cleak
 What we will cover today
Changing world of teaching and learning- well before Covid!

Authentic Assessment- from testing knowledge to applying learning to actual practice situations

Types of Assessments

Developing graduate attributes, learning outcomes, rubrics and curriculum mapping

Examples-rubrics and mapping exercise

Academic Integrity and Assessment Security-what it means for teaching technology and policies

Copyright to Helen Cleak

 CHANGING METRICS

• In recent years, global attention has been directed towards improving educational programs in
order to prepare students for a changing future.

• Increasingly, higher education is managed and funded according to performance criteria other
than research output and excellence.

• For example, in the UK and Australia, new regulatory requirements are increasingly performance
based and they standardize, assess and rank Universities on quality indicators such as teaching,
student retention and graduate employment.

• In particular, student ratings of their learning experiences have become mandatory and publicly
reported for national comparisons.

In summary, higher education is increasingly focused on the student experience and outcomes.

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 CHANGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

• So, to be competitive in the global economy, higher education has recognised that the centuries-old model of education with
its emphasis on rote learning and objective testing is not adequately preparing their students for future work
• As a result, teaching and learning have undergone reforms and improvements with the input of LMS platforms and access to
innovative technology, yet assessment methods in tertiary education is still some way behind.
• There is a new focus placed on creativity and problem solving to develop students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes beyond the
usual, narrowly focused curriculum and assessment of the past.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a dramatic shift in approaches to learning and the needs of learners.The pandemic saw
many universities move rapidly online and the annual data on student satisfaction indicated that while many students
appreciated the efforts of the academics who supported them, there was a drop in student satisfaction, with the 2020 QILT
Student Experience Survey (SES) observing undergraduate student satisfaction levels of 68.4 per cent, down from a steady
previous average of around 78 to 80 per cent.
• However, universities that had been purposefully building their online capability, with a strong focus on the student
experience, fared better
Authentic assessment has been proposed as having potential to enhance student learning in preparation for a changing world.

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 TEACHING FORMAT
In some HE settings, students might consider the ASSESSMENT FORMAT
teacher to be authority figures who are to be
respected, followed, and never questioned and These fragments of information rarely lend
learning is a more passive and noninteractive themselves to analysis, evaluation, or synthesis on
experience. The lecture offers bits and pieces of the part of the students. Usually if the delivery of
information at a rather low level of cognitive information is in fragments, as is the method of
processing. assessment. Historically the multiple-choice test,
where students often memorize the correct
answer, is greatly over-used.

Traditional Teaching
and Learning

Merely memorizing content long enough for a Simply acquiring knowledge through
test does not foster deep learning and does not memorization and lecture is not sufficient to
lead to higher-level thinking demonstrate the essential skills necessary to be
. successful in a particular field or profession.

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 ASSESSMENT FORMAT
TEACHING FORMAT
They must engage with the materials, practice and
If you were taught in other and mostly European learn; problem solve and participate; revise and
settings, inquiry and dialogue is encouraged and revisit.
expected; students must take responsibility for
their own learning, be independent learners, and More than one data point of assessment , such as a
question their instructors. final exam or piece of work-formative, ongoing
assessment

Authentic
Assessment
For classes with higher-level assessments, there is
In order to establish knowledge students develop an increase in cognitive processing along with
connections among facts and apply new retention and transfer rather than a simple
information within a variety of contexts. Educators reproduction of material and isolated facts.
strive to prepare students who can critically reason
and integrate knowledge, skills, and professional In authentic assessment, students learn the
values across a wide variety of situations content and then apply it to meaningful and
relevant tasks

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 LEARNING APPROACHES
Surface learning Deep learning

One-way model of communication Two-way model of communication

Memorising and recalling information. Making sense of new information and linking it to what is already known from
experience.

Trainee is not actively involved in learning. Trainee is actively involved in learning.

Learning is about obtaining more and more facts. Learning is about helping the trainee to see things differently and in a way that is
individual and meaningful.

Involves lectures. Involves interactive lectures, group discussions, simulations, demonstrations and
practice.

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 SOME FORMS OF AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
This type of assessment takes into account variation in students’ needs, interests and learning styles and attempts to integrate
assessment and learning activities”. These may include:

• Videos, design a game in collaboration with others

• E-portfolios, online reflective journals, blogs, and wikis
• Design a brochure about a topic
• Produce a piece of art.
• A critique
• A presentation or poster
• An analysis of an advertisement.

NOTE: Testing knowledge to ensure students understand basic concepts still has a place. Research supports the value of quizzes,
examinations, and feedback to reinforce recall and can use information gained from such assessments to assess gaps in student
learning and inform further course and curriculum design. It also offers the teacher a way of authenticating a student’s ability when
other tasks are completed.

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 STUDENT OUTCOMES
• When students view assessment practices as innovative and relevant, their perceptions regarding
their studies can be significantly changed and are more likely to engage in leaning and expend
more time and energy on the tasks

• This, in turn, can create a better appreciation and understanding of a subject area, thus
developing more interest and motivation towards the course.

• Higher-level skills and the growth of critical thinking and problem-solving skills are best practiced
with collaboration of others.

• Introducing relevance through meaningful collaborative activities and investigations can change
students’ perceptions about a course they may deem boring and tedious at the outset. Activities
leading to assessments that require thought, involvement, and thinking are certainly innovative to
many tertiary students because they have experienced objective testing for most of their
educational careers

• Students can participate more fully in activities and real-world experiences that have a direct
bearing on their careers, thus preparing them for challenges that lie ahead

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Define graduate attributes Create a distinctive Develop authentic, Rubrics
& curriculum mapping learning profile graduate-level
11 assessments
This requires the teaching Next is to CREATE these as The next stage is to Rubrics delineate the
team to VISUALISE future course learning outcomes. TRANSFORM the specifics of the learning
focused needs of graduates curriculum using a whole that needs to occur and
Chart the high level features of of course assessment establishes the lecturer’s
Makes curricula more the learning journey (year design and blueprint. expectations of the
transparent so students have level tasks, key learning assessment.
an understanding of the what experiences)
learning needs to be attained through design intensives The use of scoring rubrics
and expected outcomes. activities with the curriculum provide indicators or
team and industry partners guides for students.
It also allows departments and
staff to regularly review and What you want students to
update curriculum to ensure it achieve in each subject?
remains on track and under
control.

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VIDEO DEMONSTRATING A RUBRIC TO ASSESS
A PEER GROUP ACTIVITY
The use of scoring assessments using rubrics are considered best practices in authentic
assessment. These provide indicators or guides for students.
In this video clip, Dilhani Premaratna from La Trobe University Animal Science
describes how an interactive rubric software saved her nearly three days of work in
collating and calculating students’ peer evaluations of each other in group work in one of
her case studies subject.
Link to video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mCQq7wCK6dp7BKHN20uy_IcountNA3G5/view?usp=sha
ring

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Graduate attribute Learning Assessment
1 Outcomes
In small groups, choose a contemporary mental health
A coherent and sound awareness campaign to examine in detail. Drawing on set
knowledge of the underlying readings, and additional readings, analyse the strengths and
theories, principles, concepts Group limitations of your chosen campaign. Design an A4 pamphlet
and practice in social work assignment that re-frames the campaign and is informed by critical mental
health theories. Provide copies of this pamphlet to the class,
and provide a 1000 word report on LMS that briefly describes
Knowledge of empowering
Ability to apply social your critique of the original campaign, the rationale for your
and non-oppressive practice
work knowledge and chosen approach and the evidence that supports your chosen
approach.
interventions to
respond effectively in Knowledge of recent
developments in social work Assessment criteria:
meeting the needs of ● The pamphlet has the capacity to engage the curiosity
individuals, groups of its intended audience
and communities in Knowledge about social ● Critical theories are applied to the chosen topic
policy development, A clearly written report, with APA referencing
diverse settings, ●
implementation and
client groups and evaluation of social policy
geographic locations. including policy theoretical Human service workers often write social policy briefing papers
frameworks in order to inform policy makers and other interested parties
about a particular issue of concern. The objective of a policy
Policy briefing paper is to provide a clear, concise and engaging
Demonstrated ability to apply Briefing account of:
this knowledge in practice paper ● the issues under consideration;
● the scope, currency and dimensions of the issue, backed
up with evidence;
● the current policy situation and impact of policies on
particular individuals, groups and communities; and,
● recommendations for action
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 MAPPING EXERCISE

This is a demonstration of how graduates attributes are used to:

• Develop learning outcomes that are then
• Mapped to the whole of course and then to the various subjects and year levels

Copyright to Helen Cleak

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND ASSESSMENT SECURITY

• No assessment is immune to cheating, and recent large-scale survey research suggests that
exams are the site of increased cheating - and more undetected cheating - than take-home
written tasks.
• Assessment security in online settings has proved a contentious matter since the onset of the
pandemic and the increasing move to a hybrid model of teaching.
• Assessment security involves a validation of the security of the assessment for the student
and cannot be open to unauthorized use by someone else.
• As we adapt to remote learning higher education must ensure that students are achieving
the learning outcomes for which they are assessed, across all learning environments. But how
should we apply assessment security and academic integrity to validate assessment
outcomes?

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 ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Students are required to study and research ethically and with honesty and integrity.

That requires students to appropriately acknowledge the work of others, to study independently on individual assessments
(unless it is a group task), and to make sure that other students can't copy or misuse their work.

PLAGIARISM COLLUSION CHEATING

Plagiarism is taking and using Collusion is the unauthorised Cheating can occur in exams
another person’s ideas, or way collaboration on assessable and other types of
of expressing them, and passing work (written, oral or practical) assessments. It can include
them off as your own by failing with other people. Collusion copying the work of others, to
to give appropriate may be with another student or get someone to do the
acknowledgement. This with anyone external to the assessment, or to bring
includes material sourced from University. unauthorised materials into an
the internet, staff, other exam. Cheating is a very serious
students, and published and offence and could result in
unpublished works. suspension or exclusion from
the University

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• Most Universities now employ an Academic Integrity Officer, who has access to an Investigator Account
with Turnitin which enables the officer to run detailed reports relating to plagiarism and contract
cheating across all assessments submitted
• If a subject coordinator suspects a breach, they are required to:
o inform student of the suspected breach
o show you the evidence of the breach
o ask you to respond
o report the matter to the Academic Integrity Officer
o the most important form of evidence in substantiating breaches is an interview with the student. The
Academic Integrity Officer will undertake preparation of material and to assist in the running of these
interviews to facilitate the evidence gathering process.

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 TYPES OF BREACHES
Breaches due to poor academic practice (Neither Breaches due to academic misconduct (Intentional
intentional nor reckless) or reckless)

Students will have to participate in additional If the breach is found to be intentional or reckless,
academic skills development about the the matter is reported to the Associate Dean of the
consequences of academic misconduct. The faculty and will be investigated as academic
assessment will be marked on its merit, reflecting misconduct.
the poor academic practice indicated by the Penalties include:
unintentional breach. o a zero mark for the assessment task
Penalties include: o a zero mark for the unit
o loss of marks o suspension from the course
o re-marking to exclude the section of work that o exclusion from the University.
breaches academic integrity Where a penalty or disciplinary action is applied, the
o resubmitting all or part of the work. outcome is recorded and kept for seven years, or for
A warning is recorded on a University register for 15 years if the penalty was exclusion.
seven years to document that you’ve been
counselled about academic integrity rules.

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 REFERENCES

• Litchfield, B., & Dempsey, J. (2015). Authentic Assessment of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes, in
New Diections for Teaching and Learning, no. 142, Summer 2015 © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
DOI: 10.1002/tl.20130

• Neden, J., Cleak, H. & Thomson, S. (2019). Towards Agility: Scaffolding Anticipative Education in
Social Work, British Journal of Social Work, 0, 1–19.

• Hains-Wesson, R., Pollard, V., Kaider, F., & Young, K. (2020). STEM academic teachers’ experiences
of undertaking authentic assessment-led reform: a mixed method approach, Studies in Higher
Education, 45:9, 1797-1808.

• Poindexter, K., Hagler, D., & Lindell, D.(2015). Designing Authentic Assessment Strategies for Nurse
Educators, Nurse Educator, 40, 1, 36-40.

Copyright to Helen Cleak