Authentic assessment training for university teachers

ABSTRACT

A training course grounded in the principles of authentic assessment was implemented with 24 academics from two Chilean universities. Through a single-group pre-test/post-test design, the change in the evaluated parameters was analysed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the conducted training. By the end of the course, the assessments were more contextualised, requiring the application of analysis and transfer skills, aligning with the competencies outlined in the graduation profile. Teachers included more open-ended questions focused on knowledge construction and fewer closed-response questions that required memorisation. Additionally, they reduced their beliefs about teaching as transmitting information, and the idea of provoking conceptual change in their students grew. This study shows that training in authentic assessment facilitates a change in the teacher’s beliefs about teaching and assessment, towards teaching focused on conceptual change and assessment for and as learning. It also promotes the transformation of assessment instruments to be more realistic, challenging, and feedback-oriented.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessment
• authentic assessment
• higher education
• professional practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2024.2350395.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Verónica Villarroel

Dr. Verónica Villarroel holds a PhD in Psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Currently, she works as a researcher and Director od the Master´s in Education for Health Sciences at Universidad San Sebastián. Her research interests include atuthentic assessment for learning, as well as dialogical teaching and remote education process in higher education.

Daniela Bruna

Dr. Daniela Bruna holds a PhD in Psychology from Universidad de Concepción. Currently, she serves as the director of the undergraduate Psychology program at Universidad del Desarrollo in Concepción. Her research focuses on the study and evaluation of teaching practices and interventions for students self-regulation in learning.

Carola Bruna

Dr. Carola Bruna holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the Universidad de Concepción. She currently works as faculty member in the Faculty of Biological Sciences and she is part of University Teaching Directorate. Her research focuses on training in effective pedagogical practices al university level.

Gavin Brown

Dr. Gavin Brown is the Director of Quantitative Data Analysis and Research Unit and Professor of Learning, Development, and Professional Practice at the Faculty of Education and Social Work. He is an Honorary Professor at the Education University of Hong Kong and an Affiliated Professor at Umea University in Sweden. His research focuses on cross-cultural assessment.

David Boud

Dr. David Boud is Alfred Deakin Professor, and Founder & Co-Director of the center for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CREADLE) at Deakin University. He han been involved in research on assessment in higher education for over 40 years, and is one of the mos cited authors in this fileds.