A holistic consideration of authentic assessments: student perception of assessment design, delivery, flexibility and creativity

Abstract

Although ‘authentic assessment’ is widely used in higher education, its interpretation is often limited to an assessment task's technical relevance. This paper explores a more holistic conceptualisation of authenticity by probing authentic design and authentic delivery of student assessment. Findings from a UK University survey show that while students use various resources for coursework assessments, opportunities to incorporate personal opinion and exercise systems thinking are limited. Notwithstanding the assessment's technical content, how students work towards deliverables is often misaligned with professional engineering practice, with a comparative paucity of peer review and feedback practice among students. With student perceptions of authentic assessment being relatively underexplored, this study highlights the pitfalls of a myopic interpretation of authenticity, resulting in minimal opportunities to express creativity and flexibility in assessments. These findings challenge engineering educators to reconsider assessment authenticity by incorporating aspects of the student's lived experience that promote a more meaningful assessment experience.