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ABSTRACT The term `authentic assessment' has recently gained widespread use in education. This paper explores various ways in which authentic assessment is being interpreted and the relationship between these different interpretations and the original focus of authenticity in learning. The paper explores briefly the ways in which implicit and explicit beliefs about the nature of learning and knowledge formation direct the ways in which authentic assessment is interpreted and used. Educational issues that arise from some implementations of authentic assessment, identified as camouflage, simulation and abstraction, are discussed. The need for authentic assessment to be contextualised through a coherent teaching, learning and assessment domain is stressed.
Learning theories recognise that learning is dependent on complex interrelationships of cognitive, affective and socio-cultural factors (Resnick, 1989). Context also has significant effects on learning and performance (Wiggins, 1993; Anderson et al. 1996). Assessment theory and practice have been evolving to reflect these complexities, moving away from more narrowly focussed psychological theories of measurement that have dominated education until recently (Linn, 1990, 1995; Goldstein, 1989; Gipps, 1994). `New approaches to assessment' have been identified as `one of the major issues of the decade' (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (CTGV), 1993, p. 65).
The changing focus of assessment has led to two major theoretical considerations. The first relates to conceptions of validity, with renewed emphasis on the appropriateness of assessment tasks as indicators of intended learning outcomes, and on the appropriateness of the interpretation of assessment outcomes as indicators of learning (Messick, 1989, 1994). These conceptions of validity are more compatible with the `new paradigm of assessment' (Gipps, 1994), emphasising interpretations of quality and judgements of standards (Maxwell, 1997), than with measurement-- oriented or psychometric approaches based on true score theory. The second theoretical consideration relates to the need for learning and assessment of learning to be contextualised and meaningful for students. The quest for contextuality and meaningfulness arises from general awareness that learning and performance depend on context and motivation (Wiggins, 1993). Motivational benefits are expected to accrue when students can perceive the relevance of learning and assessment activities, thereby enhancing learning outcomes. This theoretical consideration incorporates concerns about the transfer of learning from one educational context to another, from formal education to personal life and the...