Authentic Assessment

Authentic Assessment

In the 4Door™ eLearning Approach, we want our assessment to be authentic. We want it to reflect what happens in the real-world workplace. We want the assessment to be conducted in a context that is as close to the on-the-job context as possible. Very seldom does the real world evaluate a person’s job performance through multiple-choice or fill-in-the blank questions. On their jobs, people are evaluated in terms of their performance and their productivity.

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Products and Performance

In the Assessment Center, we assess the participants by asking them for two types of deliverables:

1. A product
2. An interaction with another (or other) people demonstrating the skill-- In other words, a performance

Products and performances are associated with all real-world job situations. For a set of samples, review this table.

Assessment Center

Here are the steps for constructing materials and methods for the Assessment Center:

1. Specify the training topic and goal for the module and identify key products and performances associated with them.
2. For Products:
   1. Decide whether you want the product to be designed and developed under real-world conditions or in a simulated context.
   2. Prepare a Product Specification Sheet with the details of the product you want the participant to produce and deliver.
   3. Create an Assessment Checklist that lists the quality standards for the product.
   4. Create a sample product yourself. Evaluate it using the Assessment Checklist. Based on this experience, revise the Product Specification Sheet and the Assessment Checklist. 
   5. Produce three sample products that are in response to your Product Specification sheet. Better yet, ask three of your colleagues to produce these sample products.
   6. Format the Product Specification Sheet, the Assessment Checklist, and the three sample products for the Library section of the module.
3. For Interactive Performances:
   1. Decide whether you want the participant to demonstrate his or her performance under real-world conditions or in a simulated context (as in a role play).
   2. Prepare a Performance Requirement Sheet. Specify the details of the performance you want the participant to implement. Include time and space requirements.
   3. Decide whether you want the participant to send you a recording or an reaction statement from an observer or another participant.
   4. Create an Observation Checklist for assessing the performance.
   5. Record your own sample performance. Rate your performance using the Observation Checklist. Based on this experience, revise the Performance Requirement Sheet and the Observation Checklist.
   6. Produce three sample performances and record them. If possible, ask three different colleagues to enact these performances.
   7. Format the Performance Requirement Sheet, the Observation Checklist, and the three sample recordings for the Library section of the module.