Where do students connect with reality? “The classroom” is not likely to be the first answer respondents would provide for that question. For so many students, “reality” is something that they only believe they can engage in a virtual realm with a headset. Most are happy to do that, actually. Unfortunately, that’s not reality.
In a classroom, a simulation is the closest approximation that most students will find for a real-world scenario. Authentic assessment showcases the opportunities differently. Authentic assessments require a component of realism or real-world connection in the framework. This mandatory feature transforms the assessment from a contrived experience to one which is dependent on engagement in the real world to apply the skills which have been learned in the classroom. This also creates a variable which embeds risk for students of: 1) not being able to practically apply the “book work” learning they claim to have mastered; and 2) their work being visible to individuals outside of the classroom.
Isn’t that heartless? What if they make a mistake?!
For most of human history, children learned to do the tasks that they would do in adulthood by shadowing their parents or other professionals who were doing the tasks. They were not taught the theory of a task for more than a decade and then expected to do it well upon getting hired for the purpose. Somehow, expectations changed. Preparing for the professional world isn’t like packing a suitcase. Just putting more and more facts into the brain doesn’t guarantee that a person can functionally use all of those things which have been packed. Experience must play a role.
Professional educators are not going to assign students to give welding a try without preparatory material. The assessment must be within the bounds of reason and safety. The risk is to the ego. If a child submits a poor quality assignment, it’s usually between the child and the teacher, sometimes escalated to the parent. Authentic assessment experiences go beyond that circle.
Social-Emotional Risk and Reward
While there is a risk of embarrassment if a task is performed poorly in a public space, the embarrassment can be mitigated by diligent work, verification of the product with the teacher, and careful review of existing examples of the product as completed by others, including professionals. Carelessness about one’s work in a public space is a recipe for disaster, but it is a choice.
On the other hand, the reward in the classroom for work well done is a good grade. Often those who get good grades are accustomed to scoring well frequently. Therefore, the reward for hard work is nothing new. However, in a public space, social-emotional rewards can be remarkable. Students are showcased for their quality in a public arena. Simply the concept that the teacher considered it reasonable to show their work to others or to engage with real practitioners adds a level of confidence from the support of the teacher in creating the assignment. This confidence propels students to try their best. Many such situations can result in complimentary comments through public and private means — in person at a council meeting, in follow-up emails, through comments at the end of an editorial or post, or social media press posts about the accomplishment of the student.
Of course, that’s just the social-emotional rewards, though not to be taken lightly. Positive feedback from businesses, organizations, and local officials can lead to recognition to add to a college application portfolio, a resume, or even to a job offer or apprenticeship…just from doing a classroom assignment outside of the classroom!
The Impact of Integrity
When the final analysis is considered, integrity is the key — a good job well done. In the daily experience of students, completing a worksheet or raising their hand to answer a question is the average “good job.” On an assessment, such as a test, essay, or project, the final result is remembering key facts in the right order with the right application, explaining in a structure, or following the directions to complete a large task, possibly in collaboration. That’s not much different from a worksheet or raising the hand, just larger in scale. Anxiety may build in preparation, but the task is expected and routine. Such assessments do not challenge students to demonstrate their abilities at the edge of their competence.
For everyone who has attained a goal which was not easily won, no explanation is needed. The pride of perseverance to the end of the task is more fulfilling than any score that will go into a gradebook. Success is its own reward. Students value their product and experience because it fulfills their need for integrity in their work. When they see the final result and know that others outside of the classroom have also seen the quality of their work, they can bask in a feeling of integrity.
The inverse is also true. Faking a result in class will cause a poor score with low visibility. Compromising the integrity of the final product of an authentic assessment bears greater risks. The embarrassment of a poor quality product pales in comparison to the impact of public work which is dishonest. A mistake can be corrected. Often that is the result in authentic assessment. Students may need to continue working to assure that the end product is one which is truly accurate and reflective of their best efforts. With errors identified, either by peers, the teacher, or other evaluators in the scenario, extra work is involved to make corrections instead of leaving the poor result in place. That doesn’t happen for most in-class assessments. When a test is done, the wrong answers remain. When a paper has been written and the comments have been read (if students go beyond the overall grade), it is not revised for improvement. The same is true for the end result of a project. They all live long enough to make it to the trash can, forever in their less-than-perfect state. Authentic assessments will frequently be upgraded to a polished state for posterity.
Learning By Doing
The strongest teaching method is practice. Most professions involve some level of on-the-job practice, whether that is internship, shadowing, or a probationary period. Of course, there is grounding in theory and background knowledge, but the ultimate goal is practice. Truly, not everything can be demonstrated in the classroom.
While some of John Dewey’s perspectives, especially the political implications, have been targeted for derision, the Learning by Doing theory remains a cornerstone. Dr. Linda Darling Hammond states that “Active learning—that is, learning by doing—is not only more memorable, it also allows students to engage in the kind of collaboration and problem-solving they will encounter in the world of work” (Main, 2023, para. 18). In fact, research shows that learning by doing activities result in outcomes that are 20% high than those which are entirely based on learning content (Main, 2023, para. 17). Furthermore, retention is greater. Experience is truly the best teacher.
Experiential Learning Theory by David Kolb describes experiential learning activities as a catalyst for knowledge creation which emerges partially because of the integration of experiences between the individual, the setting, and the social dynamic (Soares, 2024). In the sense of a chemistry experiment, bringing the learner and the knowledge together in a vacuum does not elicit the key effect. It must happen in a real-world context with the surrounding social order, if one is likely to see the maximum result.
Whether students:
- use geometry to prepare a carpeting order for a new house;
- propose a new city ordinance to get it approved by the City Council;
- meet with native speakers and converse in another language;
- collect water and soil samples from a local park for lab analysis; or
- seek Census data from 1790 to analyze the post-Revolutionary economy
the indication is that they will perform better on the task, learn more, and retain it longer than if they merely study it.
Teacher Takeaways
Removing the limits of the classroom wall and the safety of assessment merely by a teacher for a grade book, catapults learning, retention, and product quality to new heights which can only be effectively achieved outside of the classroom.
Main, P (2023). John Dewey’s Theory. Structural Learning. Retrieved from https://www.structural-learning.com/post/john-deweys-theory
Soares, L. (2024). Learning by doing: Mapping jobs, experience, and ecosystems for working learners. American Council on Education. Washington, DC. https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Joyce_LearningbyDoing_brief.pdf
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