Using principles of authentic assessment to redesign written examinations and tests
Open accessAbstract
Tests and examinations are widely used internationally. Despite their pervasiveness, they tend to measure lower order thinking skills in a decontextualized manner at a time when the literature frequently argues for the benefits of a richer, authentic approach to assessment. The focus of this paper is to improve authenticity in test assessment methods through promoting realism, cognitive challenge and evaluative judgement during the planning, administering and following up of assessment tasks. The article builds on a systematic literature review, in which the main principles of authentic assessment were outlined. In this paper, we posit how these principles can be implemented through the three chronological phases of the assessment process: before, during and after the act of assessment.
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Authentic, cognitively demanding tasks incorporating oral defenses, experiential components, and disciplinary problem-solving help preserve academic integrity while building employability skills.
“Authentic, cognitively demanding tasks incorporating oral defenses, experiential components, and disciplinary problem-solving help preserve academic integrity while building employability skills (Salinas-Navarro et al., 2024; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Villarroel et al., 2019).”
From Reimagining writing assessment for the AI era: a systematic review on balancing AI support and authentic skill growth (2026) · cites this paper as Villarroel et al., 2019
Authentic assessment comprises crucial principles in pedagogical design.
“Authentic assessment comprises crucial principles in pedagogical design [33,34].”
From Using Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools to Explain and Enhance Experiential Learning for Authentic Assessment (2024) · cites this paper as [34]
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“Authentic assessment comprises crucial principles in pedagogical design [33,34].”
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“Authentic, cognitively demanding tasks incorporating oral defenses, experiential components, and disciplinary problem-solving help preserve academic integrity while building employability skills (Salinas-Navarro et al., 2024; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Villarroel et al., 2019).”
- Authors
- Villarroel, V., Boud, D., Bloxham, S., Bruna, D., & Bruna, C.
- Affiliations
- Universidad del Desarrollo (CL)
- University of Technology Sydney (AU)
- University of Cumbria (GB)
- University of Concepción (CL)
- Corresponding author
- Bruna, Daniela
- Venue
- Innovations in Education and Teaching International
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-01-08
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 38-49
- ISSN
- 1470-3297 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-3300
- OpenAlex
- W2908858526
- Cited by
- 157
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 9
- FWCI
- 40.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Innovations in Education and Teaching International (publishedVersion)
- Middlesex University Research Repository (Middlesex University Of London) (acceptedVersion)
- Insight (University of Cumbria) (acceptedVersion)
- OPUS - Open Publications of UTS Scholars (University of Technology Sydney) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- University of Cumbria
- University of Technology Sydney
- Deakin University
- Universidad de Concepción
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Assessment and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Education › Problem and Project Based Learning
- Keywords
- authentic assessment, written examinations, test design, assessment redesign, cognitive challenge, evaluative judgments, assessment planning, assessment administration, assessment feedback, lower order thinking skills
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