CAT and Authentic Assessment
Alexandra Kaduc RN, BSN, CCRN
TinaMarie Cieri, RN, BSN
Jennifer Austin RN, BSN
Kelly McCabe RN, BSN
Norvella Hill RN, BSN
Classroom assessment techniques (CATs) are activities that are used to determine whether students are learning and to discover the best methods for teaching (Billings & Halstead, 2012). CATs involve direct, continuous interaction between the student and teacher to validate, clarify, and guide student learning (Billings & Halstead, 2012). Therefore, they are major components of formative evaluation as they are useful tools that are designed to assess the progress of learning for both teachers and students in a nonthreatening environment. They are not involved with the evaluation or grading of student learning. Furthermore, classroom assessment techniques incorporate active learning strategies to facilitate greater learning (Billings & Halstead, 2012).
Review CATs for further explanation of the usefulness of CATs and the role that this type of tool plays in the classroom.
Also, see examples to gain greater insight of how CATs can be used.
An authentic assessment drives a curriculum. It also complements a traditional assessment. An authentic assessment will include tasks that students can perform according to a rubric that is graded by educators. Tasks are real life and use a student structured approach that is based on direct evidence. In traditional assessments students may use recall/recognition whereas authentic assessments use construction/application. Rote learning is not used with authentic assessment, rather it focuses on the student’s analytical skills, oral skills, creativity, and the ability to work collaboratively. According to Mueller, 2014 authentic assessment for students include:
TinaMarie Cieri, RN, BSN
Jennifer Austin RN, BSN
Kelly McCabe RN, BSN
Norvella Hill RN, BSN
Classroom assessment techniques (CATs) are activities that are used to determine whether students are learning and to discover the best methods for teaching (Billings & Halstead, 2012). CATs involve direct, continuous interaction between the student and teacher to validate, clarify, and guide student learning (Billings & Halstead, 2012). Therefore, they are major components of formative evaluation as they are useful tools that are designed to assess the progress of learning for both teachers and students in a nonthreatening environment. They are not involved with the evaluation or grading of student learning. Furthermore, classroom assessment techniques incorporate active learning strategies to facilitate greater learning (Billings & Halstead, 2012).
Review CATs for further explanation of the usefulness of CATs and the role that this type of tool plays in the classroom.
Also, see examples to gain greater insight of how CATs can be used.
An authentic assessment drives a curriculum. It also complements a traditional assessment. An authentic assessment will include tasks that students can perform according to a rubric that is graded by educators. Tasks are real life and use a student structured approach that is based on direct evidence. In traditional assessments students may use recall/recognition whereas authentic assessments use construction/application. Rote learning is not used with authentic assessment, rather it focuses on the student’s analytical skills, oral skills, creativity, and the ability to work collaboratively. According to Mueller, 2014 authentic assessment for students include:
- science experiments
- conducting social-science research
- writing stories and reports
- reading and interpret literature
- solving math problems that have real-world applications
Four examples of CAT/Authentic Assessment evaluation of student learning:
Article 1- Poindexter, K., Hagler, D., & Lindell, D. (2015). Designing Authentic Assessment. Nurse Educator, 40(1), 36-40. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000091
This article describes the development of authentic assessment in nursing education; this process goes above quizzes and examinations, and integrates a more comprehensive set of competencies to reflect students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes. When choosing authentic assessments, educators should consider the challenge to students, final outcome requirements, representation of student learning through various skills, demonstration of metacognition, authenticity, fidelity of actual/simulated tools, discussion/feedback, and student collaboration. There are many resources available for integrating authentic assessments into nursing curricula, including objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), concept maps, case-studies, and simulations. Integration of authentic assessments into the overall course design will enhance student achievement of course outcomes, and will assist educators in formative assessment of students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the classroom and clinical settings.
Article 2- Bland, A. J., Topping, A., & Wood, B. (2011). A concept analysis of simulation as a learning strategy in the education of undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 31(7), 664-670. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.013
This article discusses the increased discussion of simulation in nursing education articles, and its increased use in nursing education and the health care profession. This article provided a more indepth understanding related to the concept of simulation in the learning environment and its use as an influential strategy in the education of undergraduate nursing students.
Two links related to CAT and Authentic Assessment:
This link has multiple links that are helpful in the area of rubrics and lesson planning, construction of test, and other assessment tools related to self-evaluation, etc. Assessment Resources
This link affords the educator the opportunity to access examples of forms that can be used related to student learning outcomes, and assessments. Assessment Tool
- The One-Minute Paper involves having students answer questions in writing-this CAT may be implemented before, during, or at the end of a class; educators may choose this technique to assess students’ comprehension of major course concepts, and clarify students’ perceptions of the class (Billings & Halstead, 2012).
- “Muddiest point”- this allows the student to describe the one thing that they didn’t understand in the lesson and to determine what they might think would help them understand it better. This allows the student to think about what they don’t understand and help them to determine a possible way that they can improve their understanding on their own as well as provide the educator a way to determine what the student might be struggling in with the content of that class. This assessment can also help the educator determine if their teaching methods were effective or not. This can be used in any nursing course to evaluate student learning of nursing concepts from a variety of nursing courses such as fundamentals of nursing, maternity nursing, medical surgical nursing etc. (Mueller, 2014).
- “Student generated test question”- this is a type of CAT. Each student would develop a test question with an answer from the classroom lesson that was taught that then could be used on the test for that unit of content. This would provide the educator with an idea of how well the student grasped the classroom content. This type of CAT can be used in nursing education with a variety of nursing content for example during a medical-surgical or fundamentals in nursing course. This would also provide the educator with feedback to determine if their method of teaching was effective or not (Mueller, 2014).
- “Case study”- this is an example of authentic assessment. A case study provides the student with a real-life situation where they need to apply previous knowledge with current classroom and clinical knowledge to a specific patient situation. Case studies can be used in simulation labs using clinical situations and in a course such as medical-surgical nursing (Haugan, 1999).
Article 1- Poindexter, K., Hagler, D., & Lindell, D. (2015). Designing Authentic Assessment. Nurse Educator, 40(1), 36-40. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000091
This article describes the development of authentic assessment in nursing education; this process goes above quizzes and examinations, and integrates a more comprehensive set of competencies to reflect students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes. When choosing authentic assessments, educators should consider the challenge to students, final outcome requirements, representation of student learning through various skills, demonstration of metacognition, authenticity, fidelity of actual/simulated tools, discussion/feedback, and student collaboration. There are many resources available for integrating authentic assessments into nursing curricula, including objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), concept maps, case-studies, and simulations. Integration of authentic assessments into the overall course design will enhance student achievement of course outcomes, and will assist educators in formative assessment of students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the classroom and clinical settings.
Article 2- Bland, A. J., Topping, A., & Wood, B. (2011). A concept analysis of simulation as a learning strategy in the education of undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 31(7), 664-670. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.013
This article discusses the increased discussion of simulation in nursing education articles, and its increased use in nursing education and the health care profession. This article provided a more indepth understanding related to the concept of simulation in the learning environment and its use as an influential strategy in the education of undergraduate nursing students.
Two links related to CAT and Authentic Assessment:
This link has multiple links that are helpful in the area of rubrics and lesson planning, construction of test, and other assessment tools related to self-evaluation, etc. Assessment Resources
This link affords the educator the opportunity to access examples of forms that can be used related to student learning outcomes, and assessments. Assessment Tool
References
Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2012). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Bland, A. J., Topping, A., & Wood, B. (2011). A concept analysis of simulation as a learning strategy in the education of undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 31(7), 664-670. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.013
Haugan, L. (1999). Strategies to check student learning in the classroom: Classroom assessment techniques. Retrieved from http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching-resources/classroom-practice/teaching-techniques-strategies/check-student-learning/
Lansing Community College (lcc.edu). (2015). Online resources for assessment. Retrieved from: http://www.lcc.edu/provost/documents/Assessment-web-sites.pdf
Los Angeles Trade Tech. (LATTC). (2015). The assessment toolbox. Retrieved from: http://college.lattc.edu/assessment/assessment-toolbox/
Mueller, J. (2014). Authentic assessment toolbox. Retrieved fromhttp://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/
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Poindexter, K., Hagler, D., & Lindell, D. (2015). Designing Authentic Assessment. Nurse Educator, 40(1), 36-40. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000091
Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2012). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Bland, A. J., Topping, A., & Wood, B. (2011). A concept analysis of simulation as a learning strategy in the education of undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 31(7), 664-670. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.013
Haugan, L. (1999). Strategies to check student learning in the classroom: Classroom assessment techniques. Retrieved from http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching-resources/classroom-practice/teaching-techniques-strategies/check-student-learning/
Lansing Community College (lcc.edu). (2015). Online resources for assessment. Retrieved from: http://www.lcc.edu/provost/documents/Assessment-web-sites.pdf
Los Angeles Trade Tech. (LATTC). (2015). The assessment toolbox. Retrieved from: http://college.lattc.edu/assessment/assessment-toolbox/
Mueller, J. (2014). Authentic assessment toolbox. Retrieved fromhttp://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/
/>
Poindexter, K., Hagler, D., & Lindell, D. (2015). Designing Authentic Assessment. Nurse Educator, 40(1), 36-40. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000091