The use of authentic assessments by online instructors in online courses for college-level course

Studies in the last decade claim that online instructors continue to rely on objective type assessments given in face-to-face courses that mostly measure lower level thinking skills. There was a growing concern that the use of lower level objective type assessments are not preparing online students to the challenges they will face after graduation. The added complexity in distance learning that requires the use of interactive and collaborative tools offered additional challenge to faculty in creating authentic assessments, a type of assessment that measures higher order thinking skills deemed more appropriate for online learning. The purpose of this qualitative research is to explore how online instructors use authentic type assessments in teaching college-level online courses that prepare students for careers and other life challenges. The target population for this research is comprised of experienced online faculty from higher education institutions in a Mid-Atlantic States comprehensive university system who taught online for at least three years. The study is a result of conducting interviews to instructors regarding their experiences in the use of authentic assessments. The findings strongly suggested that using authentic assessments encourage critical thinking and engagement when used in discussion forum, writing assignments, and problem based assignments. On the use of authentic assessment for achieving program and institutional effectiveness in online learning, the findings in the study strongly suggested that the use of authentic assessments contributed to improving credibility at the program and institutional levels. The study highlighted the need for institutions to support faculty in developing assessments for online courses by providing the needed incentives, training and professional development that will help instructors gain fluency in the design and development of authentic assessment that will equip online students with critical thinking skills necessary to meet the challenges they will face after graduation.