Which is better: Open-ended, selected response, or performance?
- ValarieEspinoza
- Sep 11, 2020
- 2 min read
Traditional assessments prepare students for summative assessments and benchmark assessments, while authentic assessments provide students the opportunity to make learning meaningful.
According to the American College of Education (2019), authentic assessments evaluate student's learning in naturalistic ways. Students need to understand the practicality of an assessment and the benefits of improved skills.
I recall an authentic experience from my undergraduate years that has stuck with me to this day.
My first degree was in Mass Communications with a concentration in Journalism. One semester we had to put our theory into practice. Up to that point, all research and assessments were about how others conducted research to write a story.
The time came for me to apply my knowledge. I wrote a column on historical churches in my areas, but part of the process was conducting research, interviews, collecting pictures, and taking pictures.
The course was 12 weeks long, and I had the entire time to merge my ideas and thoughts into a journalism piece. I learned to use the theory and apply it to my project which made all the difference in me being successful. My professor met with me regularly to ensure that I was staying on task with my assignment, but I had full control of the process. connects
For any student, whether in primary, secondary, or college, authentic assessments can become a bridge that connects the learning process. Educators can observe students and make adjustments to instruction based on the way that students process the information (Ortega & Minchala, 2017).
Last year I was working with my third-grade students on multiplication. They were struggling with understanding and remember facts such as 6x2 or 9x5. Memorization is not a practical way for students to learn multiplication. They were missing the real-life application. So I pulled out some construction paper and explained to them that we're going to build a city. Students were put in groups of three.
Each student had to construct a building. It could be any size they wanted. They had to cut out the paper and make the shape of an array. The groups had about three days to complete the tasks, and then they presented it to the class.
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