This month’s We Connect session was a great success! Our topic, authentic assessment, was discussed at length. It feels as though we barely scratched the surface in our one-hour session.

While we let the conversation flow naturally, we had three guiding questions we referred back to:

1. What elements make assessment responsive/authentic to student learning? (assessment of learning vs. assessment for learning)
2. What teaching practices have the greatest affect on students’ achievement of assessments?
3. What other factors (e.g. program level decisions) can promote/limit student learning and success on assessments?

It is difficult to pinpoint one answer to any of these questions. Some elements we did discuss were teaching students about their learning styles and reflective practice, and the importance of understanding how to tackle assessment and the test anxiety that goes with that. We even got a little philosophical and asked why do we assign grades anyway?

I want to encourage everyone to join in our dialogue about assessment. If you want to listen to the recording of our session you will find it here:

Consider the discussion, the guiding questions and your personal thoughts on assessment and respond in the comment section below.

For those who are interested in reading more on the topic here are some good articles to start with:

Chan Yuen, F., & Gurnam Kaur, S. (2010). Authentic Assessment and Pedagogical Strategies in Higher Education. Journal of Social Sciences (15493652), 6(2), 153-161. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=51642263&site=ehost-live&scope=site

University of Alberta, University of Lethbridge. (2004). Authentic Assessment. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/media/6412562/literature_synopsis_authentic_assessment_2004.pdf