Exploring students’ experiences with authentic assessment in an online learning context

Authentic assessment brings a new dimension to assessment where learning and assessment are linked to genuine workplace environments. In this assessment, students apply knowledge and skills to solve real and felt workplace problems. Underpinned by the connectivism learning theory, this qualitative study examined students' authentic assessment experiences in an online course. It focused on the type of authentic assessment, benefits, and challenges encountered by the students during the course. The study followed a qualitative case study research design taking the short course on online teaching for educators as a case. Data were collected from twelve purposively selected participants through an open-ended questionnaire administered online, which served as a course evaluation instrument. The thematic analysis was employed to analyse data. The study found that course participants were exposed to different and multifaceted authentic assessments related to developing knowledge and skills in online teaching. The participants derived numerous benefits from authentic assessment activities, though they also encountered some challenges. The study concludes that authentic assessment should be entrenched in online professional development courses. The results are potential inputs to curriculum development that can inform the design and implementation of online professional development courses.