Authentic Versus Traditional Assessment: An Empirical Study Investigating the Difference in Seafarer Students' Academic Achievement

Abstract

Past research showed that traditional assessment methods that required seafarer students to construct responses based on memorisation and analysing information presented in absence of real-world contexts (e.g. oral examinations and multiple-choice questions) disengaged the students from learning. Memorising information is a lower-order cognitive ability, failure in which led to errors and low academic achievement for students. Authentic assessment methods require students to construct responses through the critical analysis of information presented in real-world contexts. Hence, this research investigated the difference in seafarer students' academic achievement (measured through scores obtained in assessment) in authentic assessment as compared with traditional assessment. Two separate and independent student groups (the ‘control’ group and ‘treatment’ group) were used for a selected unit of learning delivered at the Australian Maritime College within the Bachelor of Nautical Science degree program. Because some past researchers had defined and implemented traditional assessment methods as a single-occasion assessment, this project implemented the assessment in a summative format, as opposed to authentic assessments implemented during student preparation. Analysis of student scores revealed that the authentically assessed students were guided towards significantly higher academic achievement.

Investigating the correlation between students’ perception of authenticity in assessment and their academic achievement in the associated assessment tasks

“…According to Zhang and Zheng (2018), feedback on a student's current ability to perform an assessment task and providing suggestions to improve and to attain their expected levels, encourages the student to take necessary actions to close the gap in their ability. This was confirmed empirically in Ghosh et al (2020). For example, higher academic achievement in AA 2 (student scores improved by 12%) as compared with AA 1 indicated that using the feedback obtained, seafarer students recognised the gaps in their knowledge, re-evaluated their learning approaches and implemented new strategies to improve their scores.…”

“…This was opposed to a summative traditional assessment that focused on students constructing responses based on memorisation and regurgitation of information. Building on past research findings from Ghosh et al (2020), the authors investigated factors of authentic assessment (task, context, etc.) that correlated significantly to higher academic achievement (measured using scores obtained in the assessment tasks).…”

“…In education, authentic assessments appear as a model that integrates knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom with employment, replicating the tasks and performance standards typically faced by professionals in the world of work (Wiggins, 1989), making it suitable for implementation in the vocational-based seafarer education and training. Due to a global absence of evidence regarding the impact of authentic assessment in seafarer education, the authors investigated seafarer students’ academic achievement (measured through their assessment scores) in authentic assessment as compared with traditional assessments (Ghosh et al., 2020). However, past researchers (Law and Eckes, 1995; Bailey, 1998, p. 205; Dikli, 2003, p. 16; Abeywickrama, 2012) described traditional assessments as a ‘one-shot’ or single-occasion tests that are implemented at the end of the learning period in a summative manner.…”

Scientific Research in Education, Vol 3 (2020)

“…Mokslininkai akcentuoja, kad naudojama įprasta vertinimo sistema negali pasiekti numatyto tikslo -vertinti žinias ir supratimą nepakanka, jūrininkas turi gebėti kompetentingai elgtis laive (Ghosh, 2018). Imtasi analizuoti tradicinį ir autentišką vertinimus (Ghosh et al, 2020). Išryškėjo, kad tradiciniai vertinimo metodai (egzaminai žodžiu ir klausimai su atsakymų variantais) reikalauja jūrininkų studentų informacijos įsimenamumo gebėjimų, o autentiškas vertinimas skatina kritinį mąstymą, siekiant, kad studentai gebėtų pritaikyti žinias konkrečiame kontekste.…”

“…Australijos jūrų kolegijoje atliktas tyrimas išryškino, kad autentiškai vertinami studentai buvo labiau orientuoti į aukštesnius akademinius pasiekimus, kas leidžia daryti prielaidą, kad akademiniai pasiekimai gerės, jei studentai sutelks dėmesį į informacijos suvokimą, kritinę analizę ir gebėjimą žinias pritaikyti praktikoje, o ne į informacijos įsiminimą. Tyrimo išvados taip pat išryškino, kad itin svarbus tampa grįžtamasis ryšys, kuris turi būti naudojamas nurodant žinių ir įgūdžių spragas, o vėliau labai svarbu suteikti dar vieną galimybę atlikti užduotį prieš priimant galutinį sprendimą dėl studento kompetencijos vertinimo, skatinant savirefleksiją apie dabartinę mokymosi praktiką ir galimybę tobulėti (Ghosh et al, 2020).…”