Wake, S. orcid.org/0000-0001-7441-8360, Pownall, M. orcid.org/0000-0002-3734-8006, Harris, R. orcid.org/0000-0002-2504-382X et al. (1 more author) (2024) Balancing pedagogical innovation with psychological safety? Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 49 (4). pp. 511-522. ISSN 0260-2938
Abstract
Authentic assessments are designed to evaluate knowledge and skills that are relevant for students’ life beyond university, emphasising practical, applied skills. They offer an alternative to assessments that don’t explicitly foster transferability of skills. The present study examined undergraduate student perceptions of authentic and traditional assessments (N = 150). We used a qualitative story completion methodology to examine three domains: student’s emotional responses to authentic and traditional assessment forms, student’s perceptions of how different assessment types may benefit their employability, and student’s preferences for pedagogical support with authentic assessments. A qualitative content analysis revealed students generally perceive authentic, novel assessments to be exciting, motivating and inspirational; however, this was accompanied by feelings of uncertainty and unfamiliarity. More traditional assessments (e.g. essays and multiple-choice-question examinations) elicited feelings of comfort and preparedness, but students also felt worried, bored and unexcited by these assessments. Students appreciated creative freedom when lecturers set traditional assessments but would like more consideration of their feelings and need for support in authentic assessments. Hence, we argue, when advocating for authentic assessment, there is a balance to be struck between innovation and challenge, ensuring sufficient support for student’s psychological safety and feelings of comfort. Implications for practice are discussed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | Authentic; assessment; psychological safety; undergraduate |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 01 Nov 2023 16:39 |
Last Modified: | 09 Dec 2024 16:03 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/02602938.2023.2275519 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:204764 |
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