Real-life: Authentic journalism assessment, student motivation and active learning

Caroline Graham — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:06:12 PDT

There is a substantial body of literature detailing the advantages of experiential and authentic learning opportunities, and evidence that they are common within tertiary journalism education. However, research about practical journalism assessment is limited (Steel, Carmichael, Holmes, Kinse & Sanders, 2007). This paper uses Gulikers, Bastiaens and Kirscher's (2004) Five-Point Framework for Authentic Assessment to design a practical body of assessment for a Journalism Research Methods class. Although the level of support first-year journalism students required impacted on the fidelity of the exercise, students' reflections on the experience support scholars' claims that authentic and experiential assessment opportunities increase motivation and prompt students to play a more active role in learning.

Humanities & Social Sciences papers

Real-life: Authentic journalism assessment, student motivation and active learning