A Five-Dimensional Framework for Authentic Assessment

Author(s): Judith T. M. Gulikers, Theo J. Bastiaens, Paul A. Kirschner

Source: Educational Technology Research and Development, Vol. 52, No. 3 (2004), pp. 67-86
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A Five-DimensionalFramework
Authentic Assessment
JudithT.M.Gulikers
TheoJ. Bastioens
PaulA. Kirschner
Authenticityis an importantelementof new
modesofassessment.Theproblemis thatwhat
authenticassessment really is, is unspecified.
In this article, wefirst review the literatureon
authenticity ofassessments, along with a
five-dimensionalframeworkfordesigning
authenticassessments with professional
practiceas the starting point. Then, we present
the results ofa qualitativestudy to determine
if theframeworkis complete,and what the
relative importanceof thefive dimensions is in
the perceptionsof students and teachersofa
vocationalcollegefor nursing. We discuss
implicationsfor theframework,along with
importantissues that need to be considered
when designing authenticassessments.
Vol. 52, No. 3, 2004, pp. 67-86 ISSN1042-1629
ETR&D,
for
D It is widely acknowledged that in order to
meet the goals of education,a constructivealign-
ment between instruction,learning and assess-
ment (ILA) is necessary (Biggs, 1996).
Traditional frontal classroom instruction for
learningfacts,assessed throughshort-answeror
multiple-choicetests, is an example of such an
alignment.TheILA-practicesin this kind of edu-
cation can be characterized as instructional
approach-knowledge transmission; learning
approach-rote memorization;and assessment
procedure-standardized testing (Birenbaum,
2003). This approach to assessment is also
known as the testing culture (Birenbaum&
Dochy, 1996) and consists primarily of
decontextualized, psychometrically designed
items in a choice-response format to test for
knowledge and low-level cognitiveskill acquisi-
tion. The tests are primarilyused in a summa-
tive way to differentiatebetween students and
rankthem accordingto theirachievement.How-
ever, the alignment compatible with present-
day educational goals has changed over the
years. Currenteducationalgoals focus more on
the development of competent students and
future employees than on simple knowledge
acquisition.The ILA-practicesthat characterize
these goals areinstructional-approach-focused
on learning and competence development;
learning-approach-reflective-active knowl-
edge construction;and assessment-procedure-
contextualized,interpretative,and performance
assessment (Birenbaum,2003).Here, the goal of
assessment is the acquisition of higher-order
thinking processes and competenciesinstead of
factualknowledge and basic skills. The function
of the assessment changes from being summa-
67
68
tive to also serving a formativegoal of promot-
ing and enhancing student learning.This view
requires alternative assessments because stan-
dardized, multiple-choicetests are not suitable
for this (Birenbaum & Dochy, 1996; Segers,
Dochy, & Cascallar, 2003). Birenbaum and
Dochy (1996) characterizedalternative assess-
ments as follows: Studentshave a responsibility
for their own learning;they reflect,collaborate,
and conduct a continuous dialogue with the
teacher. Assessment involves interesting real-
life or authentic tasks and contexts as well as
multiple assessment moments and methods to
reach a profile score for determining student
learningor development.Increasingthe authen-
ticity of an assessmentis expectedto have a pos-
itive influence on student learning and
motivation (eg., Herrington & Herrington,
1998).Authenticity,however, is only a vaguely
describeddimensionof assessment,becauseit is
thought to be a familiar and generally known
concept that needs no explicit defining
(Petraglia,1998).This articlefocuses on defining
authenticity in competency-based assessment,
without ignoring the importanceof other char-
acteristicsof alternativeassessment.
Based on an extensive literaturestudy, a the-
oretical framework consisting of five dimen-
sions of assessmentthat can vary in theirdegree
of authenticity is presented. After the descrip-
tion of this framework,the results of a qualita-
tive study are discussed. This study explored
whether the frameworkis a complete descrip-
tion of authenticityor is missing importantele-
ments, and what the relative importanceof the
dimensionsis in the perceptionsof studentsand
teachersat a nursing college.
The Importance of Authentic
Competency-Based Assessment
The two most important reasons for using
authenticcompetency-basedassessmentsare (a)
their constructvalidity and (b) their impact on
student learning, also called consequential
validity (Gielen, Dochy, & Dierick,2003). Con-
struct validity of an assessment is related to
whether an assessmentmeasureswhat it is sup-
posed to measure. With respect to competency
ETR&D,
Vol.52, No. 3
assessmentthis meansthat (a)tasksmust appro-
priately reflect the competencythat needs to be
assessed, (b) the content of an assessment
involves authentic tasks that representreal-life
problems of the knowledge domain assessed,
and (c) the thinkingprocessesthat expertsuse to
solve the problemin reallife arealso requiredby
the assessment task (Gielen et al., 2003). Based
on these criteria, authentic competency-based
assessmentshave a higher constructvalidity for
measuring competencies than so-called objec-
tive or traditionaltests have.
Consequentialvaliditydescribes the intended
and unintended effectsof assessmenton instruc-
tion or teaching(Biggs,1996)and student learn-
ing (Dochy & McDowell, 1998). As stated,
Biggs's (1996)theory of constructivealignment
stressesthateffectiveeducationrequiresinstruc-
tion, learning,and assessmentto be compatible.
If students perceive a mismatch between the
messages of the instructionand the assessment,
a positive impacton studentlearningis unlikely
(Segers,Dierick,& Dochy, 2001).This impact of
assessmenton instructionand on student learn-
ing is corroborated by researchers as
Frederiksen(1984, "The Real Test Bias"),Pro-
dromou (1995,"BackwashEffect"),Gibbs(1992,
"TailWagsthe Dog"),and Sambelland McDow-
ell (1998, "Hidden Curriculum").Fredericksen
and Prodromouimplied that tests have a strong
influence on what is taught, because teachers
teach to the test, even though the test might
focus on things the teacherdoes not find most
important. Gibbs emphasized that student
learningis largely dependent on the assessment
and on student perceptions of the assessment
requirements.Sambelland McDowell held that
the effects of instruction and assessment on
learning are largely based on teacher and stu-
dent perceptions of the curriculum,which can
deviate fromthe actualintentionsof the curricu-
lum. All four ideas supportthe propositionthat
learning and assessment are two sides of the
same coin, and that they stronglyinfluenceeach
other.To changestudentlearningin the direction
of competency development, authenticcompe-
tency-based instruction aligned to authentic
competency-basedassessmentis needed.
A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL
FRAMEWORK
FORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
DefiningAuthenticAssessment
The question is thus, What is authenticity?Dif-
ferentresearchershave differentopinions about
authenticity.Some see authenticassessmentas a
synonym for performance assessment (Hart,
1994; Torrance,1995), while others argue that
authenticassessmentputs a specialemphasison
the realistic value of the task and the context
(Herrington & Herrington, 1998). Reeves and
Okey (1996)pointed out that the crucialdiffer-
ence between performance assessment and
authentic assessment is the degree of fidelity of
the task and the conditionsunderwhich the per-
formance would normally occur. Authentic
assessmentfocuses on high fidelity,whereasthis
is not as important an issue in performance
assessment. These distinctionsbetween perfor-
mance and authentic assessment indicate that
every authentic assessment is performance
assessment,but not vice versa (Meyer,1992)
Saveryand Duffy (1995)defined authenticity
of an assessment as the similaritybetween the
cognitive demands-the thinking required-of
the assessmentand the cognitivedemandsin the
criterion situation on which the assessment is
based. A criterionsituationreflectsor simulates
a real-lifesituationthat could confrontstudents
in their internship or future professional life.
Darling-Hammond and Snyder (2000) argued
that dealing only with the thinking requiredis
too narrow. In their view, students need to
develop competenciesbecausereallife demands
the ability to integrate and coordinate knowl-
edge, skills, and attitudes, and the capacity to
apply them in new situations(VanMerrienboer,
1997). Birenbaum (1996) further specified the
competency concept by emphasizing that stu-
dents need to develop not only cognitivecompe-
tencies such as problem solving and critical
thinking, but also meta-cognitivecompetencies
such as reflection,and social competenciessuch
as communicationand collaboration.
The definition of authenticassessmentused in
this study is: an assessment requiringstudents
to use the same competencies,or combinations
of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, that they
need to apply in the criterionsituationin profes-
sional life. The level of authenticityof an assess-
ment is thus defined by its degree of
69
resemblanceto the criterionsituation.This idea
is extended and specified by the theoretical
frameworkthat describesthatan assessmentcan
resemblea criterionsituationalong a numberof
dimensions.
Complicatingmattersis the fact that authen-
ticity is subjective(Honebein,Duffy & Fishman,
1993; Huang, 2002; Petraglia, 1998) and is
dependent on perceptions. This implies that
what studentsperceiveas authenticis not neces-
sarily the same as what teachersand assessment
developers see as authentic.If these perceptions
do indeed differ,then the fact that teachersusu-
ally develop authenticassessmentsaccordingto
their own view causes a problem:Although we
may do our best to develop authentic assess-
ments, this may all be for nothing if the learner
does not perceive them as such. This process,
known as preauthentication(Huang, 2002;
Petraglia,1998),can be interpretedeitheras that
it is impossible to design an authentic assess-
ment, or that it is very important to carefully
examine the experiences of the users of the
authenticassessments,beforedesigning authen-
tic assessments(Nicaise,Gibney& Crane,2000).
We chose the latterinterpretation.
This discussion about authentic assessment
and validity shows that:
1. In light of the constructivealignmenttheory
(Biggs, 1996)authenticassessment should be
aligned to authentic instructionin order to
positively influencestudentlearning.
2. Authentic assessment requires students to
demonstrate relevant competenciesthrough
a significant, meaningful, and worthwhile
accomplishment (Resnick, 1987; Wiggins,
1993).
3. Authenticityis subjective,which makes stu-
dent perceptions important for authentic
assessmentto influencelearning.
These three elements led to the following gen-
eral framework (Figure 1) for the place of
authenticassessmentin educationalpractices.
The concept of authenticachievement,as we
use it here, requiresa note of explanation.This
article deals with authenticassessment in gen-
eral, regardlessof the level or field of endeavor.
This does not mean that we dismiss the concept
of authentic academicachievement (Newmann,
70
Figure1 D General framework.
authentic
instructon
perceptionof
authenticity
winthina
student authenticlearning
winthina
student
authentic
achievement
1997),but ratherthat we see it as a specific sub-
set within a specific field of endeavor, namely
becoming an academic. In this we concur with
Brown,Collinsand Duguid (1989)who, too, saw
authenticachievementto be morethanauthentic
academicachievement.
The following section discusses five dimen-
sions (a theoreticalframework)that can vary in
their degree of authenticityin determiningthe
authenticity of an assessment. The purpose of
this frameworkis to shed light on in the concept
of assessmentauthenticityand to provide guide-
lines for implementing authenticity elements
into competency-basedassessment.
TOWARD
A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL
FRAMEWORKFORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
To define authenticassessment,we carriedout a
review of literatureon authenticassessment,on
authenticity and assessmentin general,and on
student perceptions of (authentic) assessment
elements. Five dimensions of authenticassess-
Vol. 52, No. 3
ETR&D,
authentic
assessment
transfer sueS
ment were distinguished: (a) the assessment
task, (b) the physical context, (c) the social con-
text, (d) the assessment result or form, and (e)
the assessment criteria.These dimensions can
vary in their level of authenticity(i.e., they are
continuums).It is a misconceptionto think that
something is either authentic or not authentic
(Cronin, 1993; Newmann & Wehlage, 1993),
because the degree of authenticityis not solely a
characteristicof the assessmentchosen;it needs
to be defined in relationto the criterionsituaiton
derivedfromprofessionalparctice.Forexample:
carryingout an assessmentin a teamis authentic
onlyif the chosen assessmenttask is also carried
out in a team in real life. The main point of the
framework is that each of the five dimensions
can resemblethe criterionsituationto a varying
degree, thereby increasing or decreasing the
authenticityof the assessment.
Because authentic assessment should be
aligned to authentic instruction (Biggs, 1996;
Van Merrienboer,1997),the five dimensionsof a
framework for authentic assessment are also
applicableto authenticinstruction.Even though
the focus of this article is on authentic assess-
A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL
FRAMEWORK
FORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
ment, an interpretationof the five dimensions
for authenticinstructionis included in this arti-
cle to show how the same dimensions can be
used to create an alignment between authentic
instruction and authentic assessment. The
dimensions and the underlying elements of
authentic instruction as presented in Figure 2
and Figure 3 do the same for authenticassess-
ment.
As the figuresshow, learningand assessment
tasks are a lot alike. This is logical, because the
learningtask stimulatesstudents to develop the
competencies that professionals have and the
assessment task asks students to demonstrate
these same competencies without additional
support (Van Merrianboer, 1997). Schnitzer
(1993) stressed that for authenticassessment to
be effective, students need the opportunity to
practicewith the form of assessmentbefore it is
used as an assessment. This implies that the
learning task must resemble the assessment
task, only with different underlying goals.
Learningtasks are for learning,and assessment
tasks are for evaluating student levels of learn-
ing in order to improve (formative),or in order
to make decisions (summative).These models
show how a five-dimensional framework can
deal with a (conceptual) alignment between
authenticinstructionand assessment.The inter-
pretationand validation of the five dimensions
for authentic assessment will be further
explained and examined in the rest of this arti-
cle.
An Argumentationforthe Five
Dimensionsof AuthenticAssessment
As stated, there is confusion and there exist
many differences of opinions about what
authenticityof assessment really is, and which
assessment elements are importantfor authen-
ticity. To try to bring some clarity to this situa-
tion, the literaturewas reviewed to explicatethe
different ideas about authenticity. Many sub-
concepts and synonyms came to light, which
were conceptually analyzed and divided into
categories, resulting in five main aspects of
authenticity.The notion of authenticityas a con-
tinuum (Newmann & Wehlage, 1993) resulted
71
in a conceptualizationof these five aspects as
dimensions that can vary in their degree of
authenticity.
Task. An authentic task is a problem task that
confronts students with activities that are also
carriedout in professionalpractice.The factthat
an authentic task is crucial for an authentic
assessment is undisputed (Herrington &
Herrington, 1998; Newmann, 1997; Wiggins,
1993), but different researchersstress different
elements of an authentic task. Our framework
defines an authentictaskas a task that resembles
the criteriontask with respectto the integration
of knowledge, skills, and attitudes,its complex-
ity, and its ownership(see Kirschner,Martens,&
Strijbos, 2004). Furthermore,the users of the
assessment task should perceive the task,
including above elements,as representative,rel-
evant, and meaningful.
An authenticassessmentrequiresstudentsto
integrateknowledge, skills, and attitudesas pro-
fessionals do (Van Merrienboer,1997).Further-
more, the assessment task should resemblethe
complexityof the criteriontask (Petraglia,1998;
Uhlenbeck,2002).This does not mean that every
assessment task should be very complex. Even
though most authentic problems are complex,
involving multidisciplinarity,ill-structuredness,
and having multiple possible solutions
(Herrington & Herrington, 1998; Kirschner,
2002;Wiggins, 1993),real-lifeproblemscan also
be simple, well structured with one correct
answer, and requiringonly one discipline (Cro-
nin, 1993).The same need for resemblanceholds
for ownershipof the task and of the process of
developing a solution. Ownership for students
in the assessmenttask should resemblethe own-
ershipforprofessionalsin the criteriontask.Sav-
ery and Duffy (1995) argued that giving
students ownership of the task and the process
to develop a solution is crucialfor engaging stu-
dents in authenticlearningand problemsolving.
On the other hand, in real life, assignmentsare
often imposed by employers, and professionals
often use standardtools and proceduresto solve
a problem,both decreasingthe amount of own-
ership for the employer.Therefore,the theoreti-
cal framework argues that in order to make
studentscompetentin dealing with professional
72 Vol. 52, No. 3
ETR&D,

Figure2 OI Five-dimensionalmodel for authentic instruction.

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A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL
FRAMEWORK
FORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT 73

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74
problems, the assessment task should resemble
the complexityand ownershiplevels of the real-
life criterionsituation.
Up to this point, task authenticityappearsto
be a fairly objectivedimension. This objectivity
is confounded by Sambell, McDowell, and
Brown (1997),who showed that it is crucialthat
studentsperceive a task as relevant,that (a) they
see the link to a situation in the real world or
working situation;or (b)they regardit as a valu-
able transferable skill. McDowell (1995) also
stressedthat students should see a link between
the assessment task and their personalinterests
before they perceive the task as meaningful.
Clearly,perceived relevanceor meaningfulness
will differfrom student to student and will pos-
sibly even change as students become more
experienced.
Physicalcontext. Where we are, often if not
always, determineshow we do something,and
often the realplace is dirtier(literallyand figura-
tively) than safe learning environments.Think,
for example, of an assessmentfor auto mechan-
ics for the military.The capacity of a soldier to
find the problemin a nonfunctioningjeep canbe
assessed in a clean garage,with all the conceiv-
ably needed equipment available,but a future
physical environment may possibly involve a
war zone, inclement weather conditions, less
space,and less equipment.Eventhough the task
itself is authentic,it can be questioned whether
assessing students in a clean and safe environ-
ment really assesses their ability to wisely use
theircompetenciesin real-lifesituations.
The physical context of an authenticassess-
ment should reflect the way knowledge, skills,
and attitudes will be used in professionalprac-
tice (Brown et al., 1989; Herrington & Oliver,
2000).Fidelityis often used in the contextof com-
puter simulations,which describehow closely a
simulation imitates reality (Alessi, 1988).
Authentic assessment often deals with high-
fidelity contexts. The presentation of material
and the amount of detail presented in the con-
text are importantaspects of the degree of fidel-
ity. Likewise, an important element of the
authenticity of the physical context is that the
number and kinds of resources available
(Segers,Dochy, & De Corte,1999),which mostly
Vol. 52, No. 3
ETR&D,
contain relevant as well as irrelevantinforma-
tion (Herrington& Oliver),should resemblethe
resourcesavailablein the criterionsituation.For
example,Resnick(1987)arguedthatmost school
tests involve memorywork, while out-of-school
activitiesareoftenintimatelyengaged with tools
and resources (calculators,tables, standards),
making such school tests less authentic.Segers
et al. (1999)argued that it would be inauthentic
to deprivestudentsof resources,becauseprofes-
sionals do rely on resources.Anotherimportant
characteristiccrucialfor providing an authentic
physical contextis the timestudents are given to
perform the assessment task (Wiggins, 1989).
Tests are normally administeredin a restricted
period of time, for example two hours, com-
pletely devoted to the test. In real life, profes-
sional activities often involve more time
scatteredover days or, on the contrary,require
fast and immediate reaction in a split second.
Wiggins (1989) said that an authentic assess-
ment should not rely on unrealisticand arbitrary
time constraints.In sum, the level of authenticity
of the physical context is defined by the resem-
blance of these elements to the criterionsitua-
tion.
Socialcontext. Not only the physicalcontext,but
also the social context,influencesthe authentic-
ity of the assessment. In real life, working
together is often the rule ratherthan the excep-
tion, and Resnick(1987)emphasized that learn-
ing and performingout of school mostly takes
place in a social system. Therefore,a model for
authenticassessmentshould considersocialpro-
cesses that arepresentin real-lifecontexts.What
is really importantin an authenticassessmentis
that the social processes of the assessment
resemble the social processes in an equivalent
situationin reality.At this point, this framework
disagrees with literature on authentic assess-
ment that defines collaborationas a characteris-
tic of authenticity (e.g., Herrington &
Herrington,1998).Ourframeworkarguesthat if
the real situation demands collaboration,the
assessment should also involve collaboration,
but if the situationis normallyhandled individ-
ually, the assessment should be individual.
When the assessment requires collaboration,
processes such as social interaction, positive
A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL
FRAMEWORK
FORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
interdependencyand individual accountability
need to be taken into account (Slavin, 1989).
When, however, the assessment is individual,
the social contextshould stimulatesome kind of
competitionbetween learners.
Assessmentresultorform. An assessmentinvolves
an assessment assignment (in a certainphysical
and social context) that leads to an assessment
result, which is then evaluated against certain
assessment criteria(Moerkerke,Doorten, & de
Roode, 1999).The assessmentresultis relatedto
the kind and amountof output of the assessment
task, independent of the content of the assess-
ment. In the framework,an authenticresult or
formis characterizedby four elements.It should
be a an (a) quality product or performancethat
students can be asked to produce in real life
(Wiggins, 1989). This product or performance
should be a (b) demonstrationthatpermitsmak-
ing valid inferencesabout the underlying com-
petencies (Darling-Hammond& Snyder, 2000).
Since the demonstrationof relevant competen-
cies is often not possible in one single test, an
authentic assessment should involve a (c) full
array of tasks and multiple indicatorsof learn-
ing in orderto come to fairconclusions(Darling-
Hammond & Snyder, 2000). Uhlenbeck (2002)
showed that a combinationof differentassess-
ment methods adequately covered the whole
range of professionalteachingbehavior.Finally,
students should (d) present their work to other
people, either orally or in written form,because
it is important that they defend their work to
ensure that their apparent mastery is genuine
(Wiggins,1989).
Criteriaandstandards.Criteriaare those charac-
teristicsof the assessmentresultthat are valued;
standardsare the level of performanceexpected
from various grades and ages of students (Arter
& Spandel, 1992). Setting criteria and making
them explicitand transparentto learnersbefore-
hand is important in authentic assessment,
because this guides learning (Sluijsmans,2002)
and, after all, in real life, employees usually
know on what criteriatheir performanceswill
be judged. This implies that authentic assess-
ment requires criterion-referencedjudgment.
Moreover,some criteriashould be related to a
75
realistic outcome, explicating characteristicsor
requirements of the product, performance,or
solutions that students need to create.Further-
more, criteriaand standardsshould concernthe
developmentof relevantprofessionalcompeten-
cies and should be based on criteriaused in the
real-lifesituation(Darling-Hammond&Snyder,
2000).
Besidesbasing the criteriaon the criterionsit-
uation in real life, criteriaof an authenticassess-
ment can also be based on the interpretationof
the otherfour dimensionsof the framework.For
example,if the physical context determinesthat
an authentic assessment of a competency
requires five hours, a criterionshould be that
students need to produce the assessment result
within five hours. On the other hand, criteria
based on professionalpracticecan also guide the
interpretationof the other four dimensions of
authenticassessment.In otherwords, the frame-
work argues for a reciprocal relationship
between the criteriondimension and the other
four dimensions.
Some Considerations
What does all of this mean when teachers or
instructionaldesigners try to develop authentic
assessments?Whatdo they need to consider?
The first considerationdeals with predictive
validity. If the educational goal of developing
competent employees is pursued, then increas-
ing the authenticity of an assessment will be
valuable. More authenticityis likely to increase
the predictivevalidity of the assessmentbecause
of the resemblancebetween the assessmentand
real professionalpractice.However, one should
not throw the baby out with the bath water.
Objectivetests are still very useful for certain
purposesas high-stakessummativeassessments
on individual achievement, where predicting
student abilityto functioncompetentlyin future
professionalpracticeis not the purpose.
Anotherconsiderationin designing authentic
assessmentis thatwe should not lose sight of the
educational level of the learners. Lower-level
learnersmay not be able to deal with the authen-
ticityof a real,complex,professionalsituation.If
they are forced to do this, it may result in cogni-
76
tive overload and, in turn, have a negative
impact on learning (Sweller,Van Merrienboer,
& Paas, 1998). As a result, a criterionsituation
will often need to be an abstractionof real pro-
fessional practice in order to be attainable for
students at a certaineducationallevel. The ques-
tion that immediatelycomes to mind in this con-
text is How do you create an authentic
assessmentfor studentswho arenot preparedto
function as beginning professionals? The
answer is that the authenticityof an assessment
should be defined by its degree of resemblance
to the criterionsituation(i.e.,an abstractionfrom
professionalpractice)and not necessarilyto real
professional practice. Van Merrianboer(1997)
argued that an abstractionof real professional
practice (i.e., the criterionsituation)can still be
authentic as long as the abstracted situation
requiresstudents to performthe whole compe-
tency as an integratedwhole of constituentcom-
petencies. The abstraction results from
simplifying contextual factors that complicate
the performanceof the whole competency.
A third consideration also sheds a light on
the question stated in the previous sections,
namely the subjectivityof authenticity.The per-
ception of what authenticityis may change as a
resultof educationallevel, personalinterest,age,
or amount of practicalexperiencewith profes-
sional practice (Honebein et al., 1993). This
implies that the five dimensionsthat are argued
in the framework for authenticassessment are
not absolute but, rather,variable.It is possible
that assessing professional competence of stu-
dents in their final year of study, when they
have often served internshipsand have a better
idea of professional practice, requires more
authenticityof the physical context than when
assessing first year students, who usually or
often have little practicalexperience.Designers
must take changing student perspectives into
accountwhen designing authenticassessment.
The qualitativestudy describedin the rest of
this articlehas two main goals. First,it explores
whether our five-dimensionalframeworkcom-
pletely describesauthenticityor whetherimpor-
tant elements may be missing. Second, it
explores the relative importance of the five
dimensions. A subgoal of this study was to
explore if the perceptionof (the importanceof)
Vol.52, No. 3
ETR&D,
the authenticity dimensions differed between
students and teachers and between students
with different amounts of practicaland educa-
tional experience.The differencesand similari-
ties along a limited number of dimensions can
give insight into what is crucialfor defining and
designing authenticassessments.
METHOD
Participants
Students and teachers from a nursing college
took part in this study. One session of the study
involved only teachers, one session involved
sophomorestudents (secondyear), and one ses-
sion involved senior students (fourthyear). The
student groups could be furtherdivided into a
group of students studying nursing in a voca-
tional training program (VTP)where they are
primarily in school and make use of short
internships,and a group that studied nursing in
a block release program (BRP)where learning
and working are integrated on an almost daily
basis. This resulted in five groups of partici-
pants: (a) 8 sophomore VTPstudents (M age =
18.5 years), (b) 8 sophomore BRP students (M
age = 20.9 years), (c) 8 senior VTP students (M
age = 19.7 years), (d) 4 senior BRPstudents (M
age = 31.4 years), and (e) 11 teachers (M age =
42.8 years). The numberof participantsper ses-
sion was limited because of the practicalpossi-
bilities of the group support system used in this
study.
Materials
An electronicgroup supportsystem (GSS)at the
Open Universityof the Netherlandswas used as
researchtool. A GSSis a computer-basedinfor-
mation processing system designed to facilitate
group decision making. It is centered on group
productivity through idea generation, prefer-
ence, and opinion exchange of people involved
in a common task in a sharedenvironment.The
GSS allows collaborativeand individual activi-
ties such as brainstorming,idea generation,sort-
ing, rating, and clustering via computer
A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL
FRAMEWORK
FORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
communication. To prevent participants(espe-
cially students) from feeling inhibited in
expressing their ideas and opinions, the GSS
was a good optionbecauseit is completelyanon-
ymous. Furthermore,it was a practicaland valu-
able method because it made it possible to
collecta lot of informationin a structuredway in
a shortperiod of time.
To examine the relative importance of the
five dimensions,fourcase descriptionsof assess-
ments thatvariedin theiramountof authenticity
based on the five dimensions of the model were
designed. They described competencies from
the nursingcompetencyprofile,which were val-
idated by two employees of the nursing college.
To check the influence of the GSS session itself
on the perceptions of the authenticity of the
cases, the descriptionswere used in a pre- and a
posttest. To do this, a second set of differentbut
comparable case descriptions was designed,
which resultedin two sets of four cases. CasesA
and E were completely authenticexcept for the
task; Cases B and F were completely authentic
except for the physical context;Cases C and G
were completely authenticexcept for the result
or form; and Cases D and H were completely
authentic(see Appendix for a full descriptionof
a completelyauthenticcase description).
Procedure
All participantshad access to a GSScomputer.
During a two-hour session, participantscarried
out both individual and collaborativeactivities.
At the beginning and end of the GSSsession,
participantswere presented four case descrip-
tions (ABCDor EFGH).In six paired compari-
sons (4 x 3/2), they chose the case that they
considered to be a more authentic assessment.
Thisactivitywas meantto determinethe relative
importance of the different dimensions of
authenticassessmentin the eyes of the different
groups of participants. A second underlying
purpose of this activitywas to bringparticipants
in a specific referenceframe for the rest of the
session, and to focus their thinking toward
authenticityof assessmentinsteadof assessment
in general.
A distinction was made between VTP stu-
dents and BRP students; it was possible that
77
because of the differencesin their studies, they
would have differentperceptionsof what deter-
mines authenticity.VTPstudents,BRPstudents,
and teachers were randomly divided in two
halves, one thatreceivedCasesABCDin the pre-
test and EFGH in the posttest, and one that
receivedthe cases in the reverseorder.
After the initial rating of the case descrip-
tions, the participants were appraised of the
purposeof the study. In orderto createa specific
frame of mind, a very general descriptionwas
given of the term authenticity(i.e., true to life).
TheGSSpartof the study consistedof four activ-
ities. The first activity requiredthe participants
to enter into the system their own statements
that described authenticity of an assessment.
This was a free brainstorm, and participants
were encouraged to generate as many state-
ments as possible. Statements were anony-
mously entered into the GSS,where it was also
possible to respond to statementsmade by oth-
ers. After this electronicbrainstorm,the contri-
butions were discussed in orderto clarifythem.
This was recordedfor lateruse and analysis.
The second activity requiredrespondents to
specify (voting is a featureof a GSS)the 10 most
important statements for designing authentic
assessments that were generated during the
brainstorm.The purpose of this activity was to
determinewhich elements the participantsper-
ceived as being especiallyimportantfor authen-
tic assessment. After completing these two
activities, a prototype five-dimensionalframe-
work for authenticassessmentwas presentedas
a framework for assessing professionalbehav-
ior. The five dimensions were explained to the
participants in an attempt to create mutual
understandingaboutthe meaning of the dimen-
sions. Thefive dimensionswere characterizedas
follows:
1. Task:Whatdo you have to do?
2. Physicalcontext:Wheredo you have to do it?
3. Socialcontext:Withwhom do you have to do
it?
4. Result or form: What has to come out of it?
Whatis the resultof your efforts?
5. Criteria:How does what you have done have
to be evaluatedor judged?
The third and fourth activities consisted of
78 ETR&D,
Vol.52, No. 3

paired comparisons to determine the relative
importance of the dimensions. Activity three
consisted of 10 paired comparisonsof the five
dimensions (5 x 4/2). Participantshad to choose
the dimensions of the frameworkthat they per-
ceived to be more important for authentic
assessment.The fourth activitywas the same as
the activity at the beginning of the experiment:
The participantswere again required to carry
out pairedcomparisonsof case descriptionsthat
varied in theiramountof authenticityaccording
to the five-dimensionalframework.Eachgroup
receivedthe counterbalancedset of case descrip-
tions to those compared at the beginning of the
experiment.
Analysis
A characteristicof the GSS is that the answers,
statements, choices, and so forth, of each indi-
vidual participantare anonymous. This means
that scores per participantwere not available,
which precluded the possibility of carryingout
statisticaltests. On the otherhand, the anonym-
ity inhibitedsocially acceptedansweringbehav-
ior, and has been shown to stimulateresponsein
idea generation and increase the reliability of
answers.The data, thus, were qualitativelyana-
lyzed. The tapes of the discussions were tran-
scribed. Both discussion statements and the
statements keyed in during the brainstorms
were analyzed to discern which of the five
dimensions of the framework they fit. State-
ments that did not fit were classifiedas other.
The paired comparison data of the five
dimensions, that is, the number of times that a
dimension in the paired comparisonswas rated
as more important than another dimension,
were talliedper participantgroup. The absolute
scores were then translatedinto rankings. The
paired comparisons of the case descriptions
were analyzedin the same way.
RESULTS
In general, the task, the result or form, and the
criteria were rated as most important for the
authenticity of the assessment. The social con-
text was clearlyconsideredto be least important
for authenticity,and the importanceof the phys-
ical contextwas stronglydiscussed.
The RelativeImportance of the Five
Dimensions:PairedComparisons
Thepairedcomparisonsof the dimensionsand of
the case descriptionsgave insightinto the relative
importanceof the five dimensionsfor designing
authenticassessments.The comparisonsof the
dimensionsresultedin five rankings(sophomore
VTPstudents,sophomoreBRPstudents,teachers,
senior VTP students, and senior BRP students)
from 1 to 5. The pairedcomparisonsof the case
descriptionswere analyzedfor the same groups,
but were measuredin pre- and posttests,which
resultedin ten rankingsfrom1 to 4.

Table 1 D Rankingof dimensionsby group.

Physical Social Result

Task context context orform Criteria

SophomoreVTPstudents 2.0 4.5 4.5 1.0 3.0

SophomoreBRPstudents 1.0 3.5 5.0 3.5 2.0
Teachers 1.0 4.0 5.0 2.0 3.0
SeniorVTPstudents 2.0 5.0 3.5 3.5 1.0
Senior BRP students 2.0 4.0 5.0 1.0 3.0

Total 8.0 21.0 23.0 11.0 12.0

Note. 1 = most important,5 = least important

A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL
FRAMEWORK
FORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT 79

Table1 shows rankingsper group of the five
dimensions, based on their perceived impor-
tancein providing authenticityto an assessment
(1 = most important, 5 = least important).Table 1
shows that all groups perceived the task as
important (score 1 or 2), and all groups except
the senior VTP students (score 3.5), perceived
the social contextas the leastimportant.Further-
more, the result or form and criteriondimen-
sions received more than average importance,
whereas all groups perceived the physical con-
text as relativelyunimportant(scoreabout4). In
short, independent of the group (see totals in
Table 1), the task was perceived as most impor-
tant,followed by the resultor formand criterion
dimensions;the physical context and especially
the social contextlagged farbehind.
The results of the paired comparisonsof the
case descriptions,in pre-and posttests,also gave
insight into the relative importance of the
dimensions. Table2 shows rankingsper group
of the four case descriptions.
A 1 meant that this case was perceived as the
most authenticcase descriptionand a 4 referred
to the least authentic case description. An
importantfinding, for the framework,was that
the case that described a completely authentic
assessment based on the presence of all five
dimensions was perceived as most authentic
(score 1) by all, except the senior BRPstudents
on the posttest (score2.5). The other three kinds
of cases showed an interestingpattern.The case
that was authenticexcept for the task received
mostly a score of 2, which meant that this case
was perceived as relatively authentic,which in
turn meant that the task (which was not authen-
tic in this case) was notperceivedas very impor-
tant in designing an authenticassessment.This
is contraryto the findings of the paired compar-
isons of the dimensions in which the task was
perceived as very important in providing
authenticityto an assessment.Finally,the partic-
ipant groups disagreedaboutthe authenticityof
the remaining two kinds of cases. All
sophomore students ranked the case that was
authenticexpectfor the resultas 4, meaningthat
they perceivedthis case to be the least authentic.
In otherwords, they perceivedthe resultor form
dimension as most importantfor designing an
authentic assessment. Teachers, on the other
hand, rankedthe case that was authenticexcept
for physical context as the least authenticcase
(score 4), which meant that teachers perceived
physical context to be most important in
designing an authentic assessment. Senior stu-
dents did not appear to differentiate,meaning

Table 2 O Rankingof case descriptionsby group.

All authentic All authentic
All authentic exceptfor the exceptfor the
exceptfor thetask physicalcontext resultorform All authentic

Sophomore VTP, pretest 2.0 3.0 4.0 1.0

SophomoreBRP,pretest 2.0 3.0 4.0 1.0
SophomoreVTP,posttest 3.0 2.0 4.0 1.0
Sophomore BRP, posttest 2.0 3.0 4.0 1.0

Teacherspretest 3.0 4.0 2.0 1.0

Teachers
posttest 2.0 4.0 3.0 1.0

SeniorVTPpretest 2.0 3.5 3.5 1.0

SeniorBRPpretest 2.0 3.5 3.5 1.0
SeniorVTPposttest 2.0 3.5 3.5 1.0
SeniorBRPposttest 1.0 4.0 2.5 2.5

Note.1 = mostauthentic,4 = leastauthentic

80
that they perceived the cases with no authentic
physical context or with no authenticresult or
form as equally inauthentic(score3.5). To sum,
the findings of the paired comparisonsof the
case descriptionsindicatedthat when all of the
dimensions in the frameworkare present in a
case, the case was unequivocally seen as most
authentic.In addition,thereappearto be contra-
dictory results with respect to task authenticity
compared to the results of the paired compari-
sons of the dimensions. Finally, when evaluat-
ing assessment cases, teachers and students
appear to differ with respect to the importance
of the authenticity of physical context versus
resultauthenticity.
Completeness and Relative
Importance:What Do ParticipantsSay?
Table 3 shows that all dimensions received
attention in the brainstormand discussion ses-
sions. Furthermore,these results corroborated
the earlier findings, in that social context
receivedthe least attentionin all groups.Besides
the five dimensions, almost all subelements of
the dimensions, described in the framework,
were reviewed.
Based on the number of statementsand the
ratios of the statementscomparedto each other,
as shown in Table3, sophomoresplace primary
interest on task, followed by physical context.
Seniors and teachers place equal emphasis on
task and result. Teachers differ from all stu-
dents, regardless of level, with respect to the
emphasis on physical context.Teachersdevoted
a lot of time to discussing the requiredfidelity
level of the physical context in an effective
authentic assessment. Especially emphasized
was the questionof whetherthe physicalcontext
Table 3 O Numberof statements per dimensionof each group,
Physical
Task context
Sophomore students 24 19
Senior students 34 21
Teachers 16 39
Vol.52, No. 3
ETR&D,
should be real professionalpracticeor a simula-
tion in school.
A closerlook at the contentof the brainstorm
statements gave the impression that teachers
and seniors agreed more with each other and
with the idea of the framework,than with the
sophomorestudents,especiallywhen it came to
task and result or form dimensions. Teachers
and seniors agreed with the frameworkthat an
authentictask requiredan integrationof profes-
sional knowledge, skills, and attitudes,and they
acknowledged that the task should resemble
real-life complexity. On the other hand,
sophomore students were preoccupied with
knowledge testing,they had problemspicturing
the idea of integratedtesting, and were primar-
ily concerned with making assessment easier
and clearer (e.g., "assignments should be less
vague, not more than one answershould be pos-
sible") instead of simulating real-world com-
plexity.In the resultor formdimension,teachers
and seniors agreed that more assessment
moments and methods should be combinedfor
a fairerand more authenticpictureof students'
professional competence. Sophomores did not
discuss the resultor form dimensionmuch;they
only mentioned that reshaping currenttests in
the form of cases would make them more realis-
tic. In other words, every kind of assessment
could be made more authenticby adding realis-
tic information.
A specificationof the otherstatements (see
Table 4) showed, first, that all groups made
statementsemphasizingthe alignmentbetween
instructionand assessment,and between school
and real-lifepractice.This is in agreementwith
the theoreticalideas behind the frameworkfor
authentic assessment. Second, Table 4 shows
that issues concerningthe assessorof an authen-
tic assessment, and organizational or pre-
Social Result
context orForm Criteria Other
6 7 13 45
9 36 12 26
5 19 21 56
A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL
FRAMEWORK
FORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
Table4 O Variablesin the other category, per group.
Sophomore
Generalstatementsapplicableto all five dimensions
Instruction
Alignmentinstruction-assessment
Alignmentschool-practice
Assessor
Organizationorpreconditions
Influenceon the learningprocess
Not defined or nonsense
conditional issues, should be taken into account
in a framework for authentic assessment. Issues
related to the assessor dealt with the realization
that people from professional practice should be
involved in defining and using criteria and stan-
dards. Organizational issues involved state-
ments about conditions that should be met before
authentic assessment can be implemented in
school. For example, teachers talked about plac-
ing students in professional practice sooner and
more often for the purpose of assessing them in
this professional context. Finally, Table 4 shows
that sophomores took the opportunity to talk
and complain about the instruction. Although
instruction was not being evaluated (i.e., it was
about assessment), 28 statements dealt with
what was taught and not with what was
assessed. Seniors were more focused, and
teacher statements were spread over different
other variables and the 26 statement of the not
defined variable included mostly jokes or ques-
tions they asked each other.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the five-dimensional framework gave a
good description of what dimensions and ele-
ments should be taken into account in an
authentic assessment; the participants discussed
all dimensions and almost all elements
described in the framework. However, elements
concerning the assessor and organization issues
should be added to complete the framework, as
these elements turned out to be important to all
participant groups.
81
students Seniorstudents
Teachers
6 1 2
28 7 5
2 3 3
6 3 3
3 3 6
- - 7
- - 4
- 9 26
A combination of the results of the GSS activ-
ities led to the conclusion that task, result or
form, and criteria were perceived as very impor-
tant for authentic assessment. Physical context
was most important in the eyes of teachers.
Social context was perceived as the least impor-
tant dimension.
Furthermore, not all groups perceived the
dimensions and elements in the same way.
Teachers and seniors mostly agreed with each
other and with the theoretical framework; how-
ever, sophomores often deviated from the other
groups. There were no differences between VTP
and BRP students.
DISCUSSION
To reiterate: The two questions with which we
began were (a) Is the framework complete? (b)
Do students differ from teachers with respect to
what they perceive as important for authentic-
ity? Both of these questions shed light on possi-
ble guidelines for designing authentic
assessments.
The answer to Question 1 appears to be yes.
The five dimensions appear to adequately
define authenticity, as demonstrated by both the
brainstorming and the high ranking of those
cases that were authentic on all five dimensions.
The adequacy of the framework is corroborated
by the finding that during the brainstorming,
most subelements of the dimensions as de-
scribed by the framework were seen as impor-
tant when designing authentic assessment. The
paired comparisons showed some subtle differ-
82
ences in the importanceof the five dimensions
for providing authenticity.While the task, the
result or form, and the criterion dimensions
turnedout to be very importantfor authenticity,
the physical context and especially the social
context dimensions were perceived as less
important.Social context is unequivocallyper-
ceived as the least important dimension of
authenticity. All groups stressed the need for
individual testing, although both students and
teachersstressed that most nursing activitiesin
real life are collaborative.Teachers explained
that "assessing in groups is a soft spot, we just
don't know how to assess students together,
because at the end we want to be sure that every
individual student is competent."It should not
be concluded, based on these findings, that
social context is not important for authentic
assessment, but if choices have to be made in
designing an authentic assessment, social con-
text is probablythe first dimensionto leave out.
The findings on importanceof task are some-
times contradictory.Although the brainstorm-
ing and the paired comparisons of the
dimensions show that task was perceived as
very importantby all, the pairedcomparisonsof
the cases made task seem less important.It is
possible, thus, that although the respondents
consider task (as an abstractedconcept) to be
most important,they arenot ableto identify(i.e.,
they do not perceive)an authentictask. A possi-
ble explanationfor this is that the all-authentic-
except-for-the-task case resembles current
assessment practices. Because previous experi-
ences are found to strongly influence percep-
tions (Birenbaum,2003),the familiarityof these
cases may have influenced the paired compari-
sons of the cases. If this is the case, the paired
comparisonsof the five dimensionswere proba-
bly a more objectivemeasureof the importance
of the five dimensions.
Finally, it might be the case that assessor-
related issues would complete the framework.
Thiscould be done by adding a sixth dimensions
called "the assessor," or by adding the issues
concerning who should use and develop
authenticcriteriaand standardsas subelements
to the criteriondimension.
With respect to Question 2, concerning the
differences between students and teachers in
Vol. 52, No. 3
ETR&D,
their perception of authenticity,some interest-
ing findings came to light. The most differences
were found between sophomores and teachers,
while seniors agreed with teachersmore often.
Moreover, the perceptions of teachers and
seniors agreed more with the ideas of the theo-
retical framework.Possibly, the perceptions of
older students have changed during their col-
lege careeras a result of having had experience
with professional practice; the perceptions of
sophomores-who have less practical experi-
ence-seemed to be based primarily on their
previous experiences with assessment, which
explainedthe focus on knowledge and in-school
testing. In other words, it appears that
sophomore students have differentconceptions
and possibly misconceptionsof realprofessional
practiceand, thus, authenticityof assessment.
Furthermore, the brainstorming and the
paired comparisons of the case descriptions
showed differencesbetween teachers and stu-
dents in the perception of physical context.
Teachersfocused on the importanceof increas-
ing the authenticityof physical contextby plac-
ing the assessment in professional practice,
whereas students, especially sophomores,
mostly focused on in-school testing with, for
example,simulatedpatientsand realisticequip-
ment.
Finally, all groups agreed on the relative
unimportanceof the social context and on the
importance of using criteriathat resemble the
criteriaused in realprofessionalpractice.Teach-
ers and students agree that, at this point, the cri-
teriaused in school differtoo much fromcriteria
used in professionalinstitutes, and that school
criteriaare often unknown or misinterpretedby
assessorsat the professionalinstitutes.
FutureImplications
The findings of the study allow for some critical
questions and guidelines concerningthe design
of authentic assessment. First, student percep-
tions should be consideredin designingeffective
authenticassessments.The qualitativeresults of
this study showed that students, especially at
the beginning of theirstudy and with little prac-
tical experience, have different conceptions
(possibly misconceptions)of what authenticity
 FRAMEWORK
A FIVE-DIMENSIONAL FORAUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
meansthando older,moreexperiencedstudents
and teachers.Forauthenticassessmentto work,
two options need to be considered:either (a) the
assessment should meet the expectationsof the
sophomores,for example,by stickingto explicit
knowledge testing in the name of authentic
assessment,which is likely to confirmunwanted
learning behavior; or (b) explicit attention
should be given to changingstudentperceptions
and, thereby,opening the possibilitiesto change
their learning behavior toward professional
competency development, when implementing
authenticassessment.
Second, we might be able to save precious
time and money in the design, developmentand
implementation of authentic assessment with
respect to the physical context and the creation
of social contexts. Researchshould examine if
assessing students in a real professionalcontext
has additionalvalue for students,or if assessing
in an (electronic)simulationin school is authen-
tic enough as long as students are confronted
with an authentic task, result or form, and cri-
teria. Simulation in school, virtual or not, is
probably easier and less expensive to imple-
ment, and, therefore,warrantscarefulconsider-
ation.
The exploratorynatureof this study, without
the possibilityof quantitativestatisticalanalyses
owing to the natureof the GSS,makes firm con-
clusions impossible. However, the electronic
GSSefficientlydelivereda lot of qualitativedata
in a short period of time. What the data of this
study do show is that authenticityis definitely a
multifacetedconcept, and that a number of the
facets (dimensions)appearto be of more impor-
tance than others. This can have far-reaching
implicationsfor educationaldesign.
Theactualeffectivenessof this frameworkfor
designing authentic assessments, however,
should be examined by evaluating the influ-
ences of differentkinds and levels of authentic-
ity of assessment on student learning and
motivation. Becauseimplementing authenticity
elements in assessment requires a lot of time,
money, and energy (Martens, Bastiaens, &
Gulikers,2002),researchshould examinewhich
elements of the frameworkare crucialfor affect-
ing student learning in the direction of the
developmentof professionalcompetencies.
83
Finally,as stated at the beginning of this arti-
cle, authenticityis only one of the elements and
quality criteria of competency-based (alterna-
tive) assessment (Birenbaum& Dochy, 1996;
Dierick,Dochy, & Van de Watering,2001).Mak-
ing decisions aboutimplementingauthenticele-
ments in an assessmentshould be consideredin
the broadercontextof qualitycriteriafor assess-
ment (i.e., reliabilityor generalizability),and in
the contextof otherassessmentgoals (i.e.,timeli-
ness, affordability,and accountability).How-
ever, a thorough discussion of these other
assessment goals and criteria is beyond the
scope of this article.
The argumentationof the theoreticalframe-
work and the qualitativestudy gave some inter-
esting impulses to further theoretical and
practical research concerning authentic assess-
ments and student perceptions,and especially
the focus on vocational college is interesting,
because most assessment research is done in
higher education. All participantsin this study
agreedthatinstructionand assessmentin school
should be aligned with each other and that
developing educationthat focuses on the devel-
opment of competenciesand takes professional
practiceas a startingpoint, requiresassessments
that are also competency based and based on
professionalpractice.In otherwords, it requires
authenticassessment. O
JudithT. M. Gulikers[judith.gulikers@ou.nl], TheoJ.
Bastiaens,and PaulA. Kirschnerarewith the
EducationalTechnologyExpertiseCenterat the
OpenUniversityof the Netherlands,P.O.Box 2960,
6401DLHeerlen,TheNetherlands.
The authorswould like to thankMarijkeBijnensfor
her help in organizingthe participationof teachers
and studentsin the GSS.Theywould also like to
thankDr. RobertSchuwerfor his assistancein setting
up and carryingout the GSSsessions.
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86 Vol.52, No. 3
ETR&D,

Appendix D Authentic case description:Authenticon five dimensions.

You'reworkingas an internin a nursinghome. Duringyour internshipyou have to show thatyou are
capableof providingbasiccareto geriatricpatientswith differentkinds of problems.You have to be able to
help them with theirown personalcare,such as washing themselves,gettingdressed,and combingtheir
hair.In school you learnedwhat basic careis, the carethatyou have to be able to provideto differentkinds of
geriatricpatientsin a nursinghome, how you should do this, and what you should takeinto accountwhile
doing this (e.g., the differentkinds of disabilitiesor dysfunctions,privacyissues, and rules).In otherwords,
you know which criteriawill be used to judge your competencein providingthis basiccareto the geriatric
patients.Tojudge whetheryou arecompetent,your mentorat the nursinghome observesyou while you are
takingcareof threepatients,eachwith differentproblems.The firstpatientis sufferingfromdementia,but is
physicallyin good health,the second is paraplegic,and the thirdis obese.You are allowed to takecareof
these patientson your own, but you can also ask colleaguesfor assistanceif you thinkthe careis too tryingor
difficultto carryout alone.You arerequiredto show thatyou aresensitiveto the differentdisabilitiesof the
patients,and thatyou takethis into accountin your actions.Furthermore,you have to be able to
communicatewell with the patients,explainto them what is going to happen,and answertheirquestions.
Yourmentorwill write a reporton your performancein each of the threecases,and finallydraw a conclusion
aboutyour competencein providingpersonalcareto differentkinds of geriatricpatients.
Authentictask:
Providepersonalcareto geriatricpatients(washing,gettingdressed,combing)while takinginto account
theirdisabilities,dysfunctions,and privacyrules and issues.
Authenticphysicalcontext:
Performingthe tasksduringan internshipat a nursinghome for geriatricpatients.
Authenticsocialcontext:
Allowing the studentto takecareof the patientsalone,but also allowingthe studentto ask for assistanceif
the taskis too tryingor difficultto carryout alone.
Authenticresult:
Judgingthe competenceof the studentby observingthe studentdemonstratingcompetenceby performing
the whole task.Competenceis judgedbased on multiple(three)performancesin differentcontexts(different
patients).
Authenticcriteria:
Judgingthe relevantprofessionalcompetencyin relationto differentaspectsof the completecompetency
(washing,dressing,combing,but also communicating,takingdisabilitiesand dysfunctionsinto account,
takingprivacyrules into account).Criteriaareknown to the students-they learnedthem in schoolbefore
beginningthe internship-and arebased on the basiccarethatnurseshave to providein reallife.