Authentic Assessment: Using assessment to help students learn

Authentic assessment offers students opportunities to learn through the process of assessment itself, if the tasks are chosen for high relevance both to the programme of learning and the ultimate life directions of graduates, in employment, research and personal development. When assessment is designed to articulate clearly with intended learning outcomes, it can have benefits in terms of fostering and deepening student engagement while helping students advance in their skills development and subject knowledge. While setting up and managing authentic assessment tasks can be time-and resource-intensive, it is argued here that the benefits in terms of learning enhancement far outweigh these factors. The article concludes with a manifesto proposing some preconditions for effective and authentic assessment.