Signature concepts of authentic assessment

It has long been recognised that assessment drives learning. Students, in particular, have criticised assessment as irrelevant to long-term graduate outcomes. Authentic assessment has been presented as a way of addressing student concerns about the declining quality of assessment tasks. Yet, there is no agreed definition of authentic assessment. An alternative approach is to identify the signature concepts of authentic assessment. A review of the literature identified eight signature concepts grouped into three categories: performative context, assessment task and learning outcomes. This review concludes that these three categories can provide a practical solution to the challenge of identifying the characteristics of authentic assessment that apply to all disciplines across the university.