Assessment is probably the most important thing we can do to engage students in their learning. However, not all forms of assessment are created equal! Whilst there are many benefits of using authentic assessment approaches and providing feedback, teaching staff can face challenges in terms of large class sizes and their own constraints around resourcing and time. This session was an interactive workshop for staff which focused on redesigning assessments to make them a more authentic experience for students whilst ensuring they are manageable from a staff perspective. Participants were invited to send any assignment briefs, or past exam questions that they would like help with redesigning so that they are more authentic, prior to the session. A selection of these were then used as “live” cases at the session. Contact bali@cit.ie for more information.

This seminar looked at alternative assessment strategies and incorporating the idea of authentic assessment. We examined how approaches to assessment can be varied to both engage students and ensure individual students are doing the work. We shared examples on how we adapted face to face exams to the distance learning environment and we also looked at what others in the field suggest. There was time for discussion and questions to help participants consider how they can alter their assessment, give consideration to academic integrity and provide opportunities for students to choose learning over cheating.

MORE INFO: https://tlu.cit.ie/conversations-on-teaching-and-learning-seminar-series Developing an Ethos of Authentic Assessment A Seminar Funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as part of the Teaching and Learning Unit (TLU), MTU Cork's Conversations on Teaching and Learning (CoTaL) Winter 2021/22 Seminar Series Presented By: Dr Pio Fenton, Head, Marketing & International Business, MTU Cork Michele McManus, Lecturer, Marketing & International Business, MTU Cork Conor Kelleher, Lecturer, Marketing & International Business, MTU Cork Elaine O’Brien, Lecturer, Marketing & International Business, MTU Cork Authentic assessment is a means of providing assessment opportunities which are like tasks in the ‘real world’. Students are asked to thoughtfully apply their acquired skills to a new situation or environment. Assessments are considered authentic if they are realistic, require judgement and innovation and assess students’ ability to effectively use their knowledge or skills to complete a task. This seminar presented the experiences from the Marketing discipline at Munster Technological University in developing a comprehensive approach to the use of authentic assessment as a means of fostering student engagement and developing collaboration with businesses. Adopting the perspective of a "work in progress" the presentation challenged participants around the ongoing reliance on terminal examination and similar mechanisms, while also reflecting the realities of delivering complicated assessment mechanisms with large-sized student groups.