Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at the University of Brighton’s Annual Education and Student experience conference (#BrightLearn23). As promised, I’m providing the slide deck from my talk. During this presentation, I focused on several points which added further criticality and nuance to previous keynotes on this topic, here are the headlines:

  1. The Power of Language: Emphasising the importance of “language matters” in authentic assessment. We must ensure that we are all on the same page when advocating for authentic assessment and its implementation.
  2. Realistic Considerations: Recognising the resource and operational challenges faced by educational institutions. Given the current difficulties in higher education, it is crucial that our assessment ideas are feasible for both staff and students.
  3. Evidence-Based Approach: Addressing the need for empirical evidence regarding authentic assessment, particularly in relation to AI and cheating. While there is growing talk about the role of authentic assessment in managing AI in assessments, we should base our conclusions on evidence rather than common-sense (we know where that got us with learning styles).
  4. Diverse Student Perspectives: Acknowledging the importance of student differences, particularly in their attitudes and reactions to AI. We should be cautious about quickly integrating AI literacies into assessments. Just as I once advocated for all students to engage with social media, I now understand that various factors, such as tech overload and mental health concerns, may lead students to opt out. With AI in assessment, let’s take a moment to pause and consider multiple perspectives before rushing to a single solution.

More to follow on these topics … Thank you, University of Brighton, for the opportunity to engage.

Here is a link to the work from my colleague James Croxford that I referenced in this talk.

Here’s the slides:

Download the slidedeckDownload