Assessment & Feedback Resources Hub

Meaningful Assessment

Meaningful assessment (also known as authentic assessment) helps students develop subject-area knowledge, as well as knowledge and skills that may be useful for them in other contexts. By making assessments more meaningful, we can improve the quality and depth of students’ learning, increase their autonomy, and improve their commitment to and motivation for learning.  

Examples:

  • Students to carry out activities that reflect actual practices of a profession within or in similar physical and social contexts of that profession, promoting students’ capabilities to judge the quality of their work.  
  • Assessment activities should encourage students to engage with criteria and standards about what a good performance means, judge their own performance and thereby regulate their learning.  
  • Students to engage in solving actual problems, applying knowledge, and making decisions, which is conducive to the development of cognitive and metacognitive skills.