Authentic assessment in practice settings: A participatory design approach (online resource)

Summary:Report from a project that developed an approach to documenting assessment of practicum practices and designed an online system to enable continuous review and improvement of such assessment for the professions of teaching and social work. Professional practicum in authentic practice settings, and its assessment, are critical to the education of students in many professions, including teaching and social work, it enables students to move from their intellectual understanding to enacting this in practice. While compliance with professional standards is required, the diverse and variable nature of practice settings, as well as the subjective nature of professional judgment involved, means that consistent and equitable assessment presents both challenge and stress for many practitioners and educators. By using a participatory approach to the design of assessment, this project developed a design pattern methodology and a number of tools to assist with documenting, reviewing and improving assessment practices. Another outcome was a compilation of current assessment practices in Australian universities