Impacts of authentic assessment on the development of graduate attributes

ABSTRACT

Authentic assessment activities are those that afford learners opportunities to practice finding solutions to real-world issues and challenges, so that upon graduation they are able to apply these skills to issues and challenges they will face in their workplaces. When learners are able to do this successfully, they are judged as job ready. However, ascertaining the impacts of authentic assessment activities upon the achievement of learning outcomes and the development of desirable graduate attributes is challenging. How can we know for certain that our assessment activities have had the desired impact? A possible pathway is to examine the impacts of authentic assessment activities on the development of graduate attributes. The study reported in this paper offers insights on how, and in which ways, the design of authentic assessment activities in an online professional development program for practitioners influenced the development of generic graduate attributes.

KEYWORDS:

• authentic assessment design
• graduate attributes
• online professional development program
• impacts

Acknowledgments

This work is based on a project supported by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia and the Open University of Sri Lanka. The contributions of the MOOC development team at the Open University of Sri Lanka and the MOOC participants are acknowledged. The authors also wish to acknowledge Palika Jayasinghe and Randima Jayasekara, who contributed to the data analysis process.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shironica P. Karunanayaka

Shironica P. Karunanayaka is professor in educational technology at the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). She is a former dean of the Faculty of Education at OUSL. Her key research focus is in the areas of ICT in education, learning experience design, open educational resources and open educational practices.

Som Naidu

Som Naidu has spent his professional life in the higher education sector in a variety of roles to do with enhancing learning and teaching practices. Till the end of 2020 he served as pro vice-chancellor, and director of the Centre for Flexible Learning at the University of the South Pacific.