Authentic Assessments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Authentic Assessments - Essay Example Authentic assessment is the product of a reform in education. This shift is to make standardized testing less drill oriented and applicable to what is expected will be necessary in the students' adult life. These tests hold students to higher standards as well as create a growing body of accurate awareness pertaining to student learning. This way the teacher learns from the student as well. The key argument these test pose is that for the traditional testing method, the right answers are not rationales. This basically acknowledges that the level of logic required for traditional standardized tests is lacking. This is due to a relationship that involves test takers who simply cram for their tests, and instructors who feel the tests have no relevance to their teaching ability. This is a common occurrence that has resulted in resentment for traditional standardized testing on the behalf of both parties involved. Authentic assessment is a genuine push towards the implementation of more authentic tasks. Instructors find it easier to apply these tasks to their curriculum and students find it easier to assess what is expected of them. It is considered a form of improving overall performance, in a testing system traditionally structured solely to monitor it. Authentic assessment applied to math and science addresses the notion among educators that this curriculum is designed to assist students in solving everyday problems like, civic affairs, jobs and professions. To do this less computation must be emphasized and these curriculums must focus more on the analytical. When I was younger, and my grades were starting to slip in math, my father required me to make calendars as a punishment until I was able to improve. Initially, I thought this would be an easy task, but he required that every square have equal length and width, and that all lines on each page be equal in length from one another. This served two purposes; it taught me that everything in the world around me can be weighed and measured. It also taught me the value of organization. The process of using mathematical tools like protractors, rulers and calculators, along with my own thinking and reasoning, incited me to be enthusiastic towards math. This is the perfect example of a pplying math to the student's surroundings. This is the type of authentic assessment I would apply to a middle school math or science curriculum. It doesn't have to be something as bland and mundane as creating calendars, but my task will be inherently applicable to the student's daily living routine. My student evaluations would consist of open ended questions that require mathematical awareness to produce solutions. For example, The Shoe Thief Puzzle A person went into a shop to buy a pair of shoes. The person chose a pair which were reduced to their cost price of $12, and gave the shopkeeper a $20 note. The shopkeeper didn't have any change, so he took the $20 note next door to his friend the restaurant owner to get some. He returned to his shop and gave the shopper $8 change. The shopper then departed. A few minutes later the restaurant owner stormed into the shop shouting "that $20 note that you gave me is a forgery". The shopkeeper took back the forged note and gave the restaurant owner a new and genuine $20 note. How much has the shopkeeper lost on the transaction, explain the cash movements, and show two methods of calculating