Contents
Presenters
Dr Hyunsun Yoon – Senior Lecturer in Strategic Communication
Dr Zach Thompson – Assistant Professor of Practice, University of Tennessee
Dr. Rushana Khusainova – Senior Lecturer in Marketing, University of Bristol
Dr Paul Booth – University of Greenwich
Paper
Literature on authentic assessment in HE reveals a growing consensus for its benefits and the need for its integration in pedagogical practices. Furthermore, the use of live projects addressing a need within industry enables students to develop professionally, enhancing their employability skills.
This paper explores student experiences of a group-based capstone authentic assessment that partners students with industry organisations to address genuine business needs, as an alternative to the traditional dissertation. Dissertation projects often involve students working on their own for extended periods on a type of project they may have never engaged in before. This has the potential to create a sense of isolation and loneliness, which is an increasing concern among university students and can result in a decrease in academic achievement (van Tonder, Jordaan & Esterhuyse 2023). In addition, the ability to work well in groups has also consistently been identified amongst employers as a key skill they look for in graduates (Swaim & Henley, 2017). Authentic assessment has been defined (Muller, 2005: 2) as “a form of assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills”. This contrasts with traditional assessments that often fail to capture the complexities of real-world scenarios. Authentic assessment aligns with constructivist learning theories, emphasising that the importance of active engagement and the construction of knowledge by learners. They assert that authentic assessments, such as project-based tasks and case studies, encourage critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration which are essential skills for success in HE and beyond. However, implementing authentic assessment in HE is not without challenges, including concerns related to standardisation and reliability, logistical issues, time constraints and resource requirements.
Drawing on the Applied Extended Project (AEP) in a MSc Management module at a UK university and fifteen in-depth interviews with students, this paper reviews the background, context and relevant literature and analyses the lived experiences of students about this authentic assessment. The AEP module included five hours of group supervision on a project that seeks to meet a genuine business need and was assessd through a 15-minute group presentation, 5,000-word group report, and a 4,000-word individual reflection. Through an interpretivist enquiry using a text mining software called Leximancer to analyse the interview data, this paper explores students’ lived experiences of such learning communities and collaborative assessments.
The attendees will gain valuable insights from the multi-institutional research team (from City St. George’s, University of Bristol, University of Greenwich, and the University of Tenesse, US) for this paper, with first-hand knowledge and experiences of teaching in HE. In addition, this presentation will provide HE educators with an important insight into the perspective of students
References
van Tonder, J. I., Jordaan, J., & Esterhuyse, K. (2023). Self-esteem, Interpersonal Communication Competence, and Media and Technology Usage as Predictors of Loneliness Among University Students. SAGE Open, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221148379
Swaim, J., & Henley, A. (2016). The Use of Influence Tactics and Outcome Valence on Goal Commitment for Assigned Student Team Projects. Journal of Management Education, 41(1), 118-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562916662497
