Authentic Assessment as a Tool to Bridge the Transition Between Learning and Work

Abstract

Graduate employability has become the driver of work integrated learning that is now a fundamental feature of university courses. Contemporary workforce demands flexible and adaptable alumni who are ‘work ready’. Higher Education has become an environment increasingly regulated in terms of monitoring and measurement of standards and outcomes (Bosco & Ferns 2014). For these reasons, most university graduate attributes facilitate the link between the workplace and the learning environment (Yorke 2010), as well as being a means to evaluate the success and outcomes of each program of study. Graduate attributes usually assess generic skills such as metacognition, critical thinking, self- reflection and self-regulation. Aligned with these skills graduates must have attained discipline specific content that is transferable to a wide range of contexts, underpinned. Authentic assessment and learning play a critical role in producing graduates that can seamlessly transition from the learning environment to the workplace. This chapter will showcase 4 cross-disciplinary exemplars of authentic learning and assessment approaches that have been applied across varied disciplines at the University of Adelaide (namely, Accounting, Biology, Oral Health and Engineering). Each case study applies theoretical aspects of authentic learning and assessment and provides a practical approach to help students make the transition from simulation to workplace learning. Common themes and characteristics underpinning each case study will be benchmarked against an authentic assessment framework, providing teachers with an operational approach to design, implement and evaluate their own authentic assessment tasks.