Running Head: LEARNING WITH AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT

Learning with Authentic Assessment

A Hypothetical Research Proposal
Andrew Peacock
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Research Methods in Education EDUC 5002G

Learning With Authentic Assessment

Student # 100565670
April 6, 2015

Introduction

Learning With Authentic Assessment

With classrooms consisting of different types of learners from different cultures

and backgrounds, it is important to value individual abilities and strengths. Educators
are continually looking for new ways to engage students in their learning. One way that
educators are trying to do this is by allowing students to demonstrate their understanding
through different forms of assessment and evaluation. Technology has made it easier
for teachers to track student progress more effectively and to better understand their
strengths and weaknesses. Growing Success, a document created by the Ontario
Ministry of Education explains that students need to be successful and should be given
multiple opportunities to demonstrate their full achievement of the curriculum
expectations. Furthermore, it explains the importance of teachers role in providing
students with clear, specific, timely and meaningful descriptive feedback in order to
promote their learning (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010). When educators work with
their students and give them productive constructive feedback, students will get better
results, as they will know what aspects of their assignments need improvement.
With the use of a web tool called myBlueprint, students, parents and educators
can all work together to help a student reach success. Students will work with all
stakeholders in their education and plan their future. MyBlueprint is one tool that
students can use to set goals for themselves. It can be based on immediate, short term,
or long term goals. Students can plan their pathway and decide whether or not they
want to attend university, college, an apprenticeship or the workplace. Whenever a
student posts an assignment to myBlueprint, they are also able to create a reflection for
their work. In Careers class, student can also use this web tool to learn about what they
should include in a cover letter and what components are necessary in a resume.
When using myBlueprint, students have the opportunity to use the resume builder,
which assists students in applying their knowledge to a real world task of creating a
resume and cover letter.

Learning With Authentic Assessment

MyBlueprint allows students to upload any of their work that they would like to
showcase to others. This web tool is designed so students can create a portfolio of their
best work that they can present to peers, teachers and parents (Silberstein, 2005).
MyBlueprint will assist teachers, students and parents in addressing the challenge of
supporting each learner to demonstrate curriculum achievement. It will also empower
students to take control of their learning by allowing them to post what they find to be
their best work. Authentic assessment is needed to evaluate a students understanding
of material in a variety of ways. The students can then implement the teachers feedback
into their next steps to show a higher level of understanding has been achieved.
Literature Review
A critical review and analysis of literature on the topic of authentic assessment
provides further insight into why one should use authentic assessment within their
classroom. One will gain a better understanding of how authentic assessment can help
students take responsibility for their learning. Secondly, it is important that teachers find
new ways to evaluate student learning by developing assessments that are authentic.
Thirdly, educators should implement assessment practices that are student-centered
and support individual students needs.
What is Authentic Assessment?
Authentic assessment, first introduced by Wiggins (1989), advises that authentic
assessments involve tasks that are personal and practical in design and use and are
valued by the student. Cumming & Maxwell (1999) reaffirm Wiggins recommendations
and suggest that there are four major interpretations of authentic assessments that
make them valuable: performance assessments based on actual demonstration; situated
learning assessments based on learning within the context; problem based assessments
based on solving problems with open ended questions; and competence based
assessment based on the application to a workplace.

Learning With Authentic Assessment

Grady (1994) explains that a key issue in learning is a students perception of

needing to know the information. Student should be more involved when mastering a
skill rather than just writing a test. Herrington, Parker, & Boase-Jelinek (2014) found
authentic learning allows students to engage in real world tasks while using relevant
resources and tools. Whenever authentic assessments are used, the educator needs to
make sure the task is meaningful while meeting the individual needs of the learner by
using an appropriate tool.
Why Authentic Assessment?
Howell, Bigelow, Moore, & Evoy (1993) suggest that validity is derived from
multiple sources of evidence. It is crucial to have reliable and valid forms of assessment,
and because of this, traditional forms of assessment such as tests and quizzes are often
used. Grant & Green (2013) explain that grading systems were introduced to satisfy the
demand for information on student performance but it was not intended to be used as a
motivational tool for students. If educators want to keep students engaged and motivated
in their learning, it is important that educators give students the opportunity to show off
what they can do in school and focus on a students strengths rather than his or her
weaknesses.
Research conducted by Darling-Hammond (1993), explains that if educators
want students to improve, then they must make sure tasks are perceived as being
authentic. Students should be given opportunities to showcase their works that they are
most proud of. Authentic assessments help students understand the progression of their
work and how their learning is based on the process of understanding rather than just
the final grade. If students can pick how they will be assessed and how they have
demonstrated their learning, then they will be more engaged in their assignment.
Herrington & Oliver (2000) recommend that students should be given an
opportunity to reflect on their learning after their task is accomplished, as it is a critical

Learning With Authentic Assessment

part of authentic assessments. Students should be able to reflect in action and on action
to explore their decision making process and how they came up with their final product.
Assessments need to replicate real world tasks that simulate adult situations where
there can be multiple solutions to a problem. Linn, Baker & Dunbar (1991) explain the
different opinions regarding traditional and authentic forms of assessment. They list
eight criteria that can be used to determine the validity of an assessment task. These
criteria are: consequences, fairness, transfer and generalizability, cognitive complexity,
content quality, content coverage, meaningfulness and cost efficiency. The overall goal
of authentic assessment is to help students think like professionals, as they have to
approach real world problems with real world solutions.
Gaps in the Research
An examination of several articles on authentic assessment found that little
research has addressed traditional assessments relating to success in terms of
understanding, motivating and engaging students in their learning. The articles
oversimplify reasons why students are not successful in the current educational system.
Of the articles examined in this review, there was no mentioning of students who lacked
motivation and interest in their education and if authentic assessment would have an
impact on these students. Kohn (1998, 2000) discusses the drawbacks of using rewards
but this underestimates extrinsic motivation. Incentives or reward may be used as one
tool to engage students and get them interested in their learning. Once students have
taken the first step in getting involved with their learning, the teacher can then guide and
support them in igniting their curiosity and sparking their intrinsic motivation.
Research Question
The proposed research attempts to answer the following question: Does student
selected work posted on myBlueprint in grade 10 Careers class lead to more engaged

Learning With Authentic Assessment

and motivated students that achieve higher scores than compared to students who
receive the same lessons with traditional assessments?
MyBlueprint is a web tool that is linked to the Ontario Ministry of Education and is
accessible by any device that can connect to the Internet. The web tool allows students
to track their progress of their individual pathway plan and gives students the opportunity
to post an updated resume and cover letter (Figure 1). Students can add in their
experiences and share it with their parents and teacher. The administrator of the
account can access the students data in real time and provide them with individual
messages for feedback.

Figure 1. [MyBlueprint Resume & Cover Letter]. Retrieved April 3, 2015, from:
https://core.myblueprint.ca/Students/Resume/

Learning With Authentic Assessment

Research Methods
Context and participants
This research will analyze student achievement based on mixed method from
teachers and students using myBlueprint. The comparative study will be conducted to
analyze the educational outcomes of students using authentic assessments. Teachers
will be required to teach the exact same careers lessons on how to build a resume
however, one group will use myBlueprint as a web tool to increase student coconstruction of assignments while the other sample group will use traditional
assessments like quizzes and tests to examine understanding of material.
The experimental research will use a sample size of all grade ten careers classes
in three different high schools throughout Toronto. The three different high schools
selected will be based on postal codes, which indicate a neighbourhood's average
household salary. Each school will represent a higher socioeconomic class, a middle
socioeconomic class or a low socioeconomic class to see if the data collected will be
similar or significantly different when comparing the demographics.
The researcher will randomly assign each class as the technology group or the
control group. The technology group will be using myBlueprint to create their resume
while the control group will be evaluated based on traditional methods of assessment
and evaluation. Each student in grade 10 will be given an online questionnaire
(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15DrhqkiDebjdGbqe620uww2J9GjRMrvwcwlrBvq_cHY
/viewform) asking questions based on student engagement and authentic assessment.
Data collection
The questionnaire is comprised of 25 questions that students will have as much
time as needed to fill it out. If students do not have devices that can connect to the
Internet, then they will be provided one by the research team. If a student chooses not
to fill it out the online questionnaire, they will also be given a hard copy that can be

Learning With Authentic Assessment

manually entered into the results. The questionnaires data will be analyzed online and
will be restricted so that each user can only submit their responses once.
This type of research can possibly change policy to improve student well being
and accountability by making technology a mandatory part in providing students multiple
opportunities to demonstrate understanding. The ultimate goal of this project will be to
help each student achieve their full success in their classroom by using a web tool like
myBlueprint.
Data analysis
After the completion of the unit, quantitative data will be reviewed from the
teachers marking book to examine students mean, median and mode in each class.
After all questionnaires have been submitted, the qualitative data will be reviewed by a
team of five members in order to reach an agreement in terms of interpretations of
student responses. Students will also have the opportunity to check the data by rereading the interpretations to make sure that their responses align with the researchers
interpretations. Negative cases against authentic assessments will also be included in
the data in order to present a balanced perspective. The data will be used to determine
whether or not authentic assessments help student engagement, motivation and
success. Once all of the data has been collected, the responses will be coded based on
similarities and trends. The data will also be analyzed based on age of participants, the
participants gender and socioeconomic class. Following the study, common themes
from the students will be identified and shared with educators during professional
development. The professional development will be based on what students find
valuable in terms of teacher assessments and how to make them more authentic.
Limitations
One of the primary limitations of the study is that students need to login to
myBlueprint and upload their work. Their performance is dependent on taking the time

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10

to complete the assignment to the best of their ability as it does require significant effort
by the student. Although myBlueprint is user friendly and accessible through an Internet
connection it is dependent on the student being able to connect to the site and post their
real world assignment. As indicated through research, Darling-Hammond, (1993)
explains that assessments need to be based on real world tasks that replicate adult roles
where there can be multiple solutions to a problem. Upon the teacher receiving an
assignment, they will need to login to the site to assess and evaluate the student. The
teachers can provide early support for students that are struggling and provide the
student with constructive feedback that can be incorporated into their final product.
However, intervention must be made early, as students will be less likely to go back and
fix a final product once it is posted. It is very important for students to feel that they can
succeed in a variety of tasks that are authentic for the learner. For this reason, the study
will focus on providing educators with the necessary training and workshops to
implement authentic assessments in Careers Education class.
Caveats
The results of this study should be interpreted with caution for the following reasons:
1. The sample size is small and only involves 3 different schools.
2. The questionnaire may not have statistical validity.
3. The research proposal was based on a Canadian perspective and it may not
apply to other educational systems around the world.
Implications of Study
The educational significance of this study is to help educators realize the
importance of recognizing that students are unique individuals with different strengths
and talents. Encouraging educators to make their assignments more engaging and
authentic will accommodate the various needs of students in classrooms. In the future,
teachers may be required to design new lessons that incorporate the use of technology

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Learning With Authentic Assessment

in all of their lessons dependent on the outcomes of this research. This model of
allowing students to complete real world tasks engages students and encourages them
to become more responsible for their own learning. This research study will be
informative to find out if the use of technology in particular myBlueprint will increase
engagement, motivation and interest in career planning.

References
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Carless, D. (2009). Trust, distrust and their impact on assessment reform. Assessment &
Evaluation in Higher Education, 34(1), 79-89. doi:10.1080/02602930801895786
Cumming, J., & Maxwell, G. (1999). Contextualizing authentic assessment. Assessment
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Darling-Hammond, L. (1993). Setting standards for students: The case for authentic
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Grady, J. B. (1994). Authentic assessment and tasks: Helping students demonstrate
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Grant, D., & Green, W. B. (2013). Grades as incentives. Empirical Economics, 44(3),
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