Changing the Quality of Teachers’ Written Tests by implementing an Authentic Assessment Teachers’ Training Program

Abstract

This case study aimed to change the construction of teachers' written tests so that items were designed to assess competencies in an authentic and challenging way. A small group of five psychology teachers participated in 10 sessions of an authentic assessment faculty-training program, to learn to assess problem-solving competencies for situations typically faced by professionals in the workplace. The authentic assessment training emphasized the incorporation of three main characteristics: (1) inclusion of a realistic context, (2) measurement of higher order thinking skills, and (3) development of evaluative judgment, concerning the quality of their own performance. Post-training the items´ construction was analysed, according to their type and authenticity. Mixed effects logistic regression showed a statistically significant increase in open-response items, and two-way ANOVA indicated that cognitive challenge improved. The results showed written tests had: a) more open-response items of higher cognitive complexity, b) fewer items requiring closed, memorized responses, c) more use of realistic contexts to measure knowledge in a situated way, and d) improvement in curriculum alignment of tests and greater consistency in measuring competencies. These advances validate the authentic-assessment training program for a better written assessment design.

Synchronous self-assessment: First experience for higher education instructors

“…Following current approaches to assessment for learning and assessment as learning, an exam should present complex, contextualised, realistic, argumentative activities and tasks. In other words, assessment activities must meet, as far as possible, the expectations of the so-called competency or authentic assessment (Villarroel et al, 2021). Authentic assessment requires complex assessment tasks.…”

“…• Micro-structure: the activities should aim to have particular features: they should preferably be complex activities with a high cognitive level, open argumentative resolution based on professional actions or contexts, and as authentic as possible (Villarroel et al, 2021). • Macro-structure: the exam would split into two parts: a first part, common and mandatory for all students, and a second part, with elective (SSA) activities.…”

“…• First, for the analysis of the exams, the revised Bloom's taxonomy was our reference (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001;Remesal, 2006;Villarroel et al, 2021). We started determining the quantity and internal relation of assessment activities and tasks (macrostructure).…”

“…In this article, we want to present an innovative proposal that leads us to analyse the potential for improvement of particular exam situations as a whole (Hernández Nodarse, 2007), unlike other previous proposals that refer to the nature of specific assessment activities. (e.g., Villarroel et al, 2021).…”

Online course delivery, assessment, and student satisfaction: The case of Quantitative Chemical Analysis course in the time of COVID-19 pandemic

“…Authentic assessment aligned with the teaching process offers proof of the learner's thinking level and curriculum knowledge and, as a result, directs learning. Authentic assessment should concentrate on cognitive processes essential in contexts other than the subject at hand and life outside of school, thereby simulating real-world task scenarios (Wiewiora & Kowalkiewicz, 2019;Villarroel et al, 2021). Furthermore, because evaluation is such a relevant element of the educational process, it is also a sensitive issue.…”