Cassie,
It's worth a try again. Authentic assessments has been very successful in my classes. Thanks!
I use authentic assessments in my courses by bringing real life scenarios. I teach in a Medical billing and coding course and most textbooks have generic questions, but when the student gets out in the "real world" you are not looking at a textbook scenario but real life situations. So I try to bring in old practice charts for the students to practice with.
Mandy,
Your own experiences help students relate to the subject matter whether you are f2f or online. great job.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
My classes are more on the alternative side rather than the Authentic. The students are asked to research and write an essay each week based upon the chapters we are studying for the week. The discussion questions may fall into the Authentic category. The student is required to respond to scenarios/case studies based upon the weekly chapters. While they are researching the topic, they also relate their own experiences. The discussion questions are student-to-student, instructor-to-student, and student-to instructor interactions.
Yes, I have used authentic assessments.
Their use in an online context must be
planned to ensure the portfolios are
delivered and viewed in a technology format
(pdf, MS Word,ect) that is accessible and
easily viewed by the online course facilitator.
I have used authentic assessments. It is very important for scientific courses. After all, students need to learn how to solve real-life problems. The principles and the mathematics are taught in the class. Authenthic assessments will test the students on how well they understand and master the things taught. Such assessments make sure that students can really apply what they have learned to the real-world problems later in their career.
Esther,
That is true about portfolios
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Wanpeng,
Well stated. How do you properly grade them?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
In my career planning and management courses, students create portfolio projects which allow them to demonstrate their connection of course knowledge to the real world. Sample of their work produced throughout the course are included in the portfolios. They follow a clear set of guideline in producing their portfolios. Authentic assessment leaves students with a true sense of accomplishment and confidence as they get ready to apply their knowledge in the real world.
I have never taught in an online environment, but in some of the online courses that I have taken, portfolios have been used to compile the students thoughts on their best work.
Cheryl,
You are using a great tool for assessment. I love that what you said about the feeling of accomplishment.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Susan ,
How do you see as the best way to use portfolios in the online environment?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I use Authentic assessment techniques primarily in weekly discussion threads. The students are encouraged to include real-life applications to the discussion to assist the entire class in learning the topics.
Stacy,
Great technique! That is a great way to make that connection with textbook learning and real-life application.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Because I teach visual art and design courses, the portfolio is an essential tool in assessing student performance. By building a visual record that shows progression students are involved in their own learning at a higher level, and also are able to see the relationship between assessments much better, and draw conclusions about the work.
I agree with your comment "Students often realize that they either have learned more than they thought or learned less than they thought."...this is the primary advantage to discussion in my opinion, it keeps the knowledge from being shelved in whatever form it was assimilated and makes it an active part of their thought process.
Christopher,
So do your students have to determine what goes into their portfolios? You really need something like a portfolio to assess.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Christopher,
YES! Wouldn't it be great if students actually used the information and/or skills in one course as a foundation to learn more an another. (I have some frustration in this area).
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Because my course is a gen ed course, I feel like students struggle a bit to find application to their real life experiences. To answer the question, observations have been used in my course. We often will challenge the students in a discussion board forum to find a link to their major or career and some of the links are quite creative.
In my course of Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, I provide them with real-life situations, many of them centered around student life, and ask them to identify the problem, list the alternative solutions, discuss the pros and cons of each possible solution, choose the best solution, and then evaluate the solution. Their evaluation of the solution is based on how other students approached the problem/situation and whether or not they would go in a different direction themselves after threaded discussions and evaluations by their peers (first) and me (last). I save mine for last so that I can see and evaluate all students' reactions.
