2.3.2. Alternative Assessment
Although traditional assessment has long been a target of criticism within the context
of education, it has proven to be remarkably resilient \cite{Wilson96}.
Over the past decade, however, conventional assessment techniques have
fallen into disfavor among education researchers, and the development of
``authentic'' assessment techniques remains an active but immature
research area today. Significant to this switch has been the move to
more flexible educational theories, such as the ones mentioned
previously, which require new methods of evaluation that are
directly related to the learning approaches themselves.
The increasing interest in alternative assessment is reflected in the proliferation of terms, such as authentic assessment, performance assessment, and portfolio assessment \cite{Wilson96}. These methods of assessment focus primarily on the process rather than just the product of learning. Authentic assessment, for instance, involves students in the evaluation of their own learning. Self assessment is an important component here. Similarly, performance assessment requires the learner to demonstrate knowledge by creating something. Portfolio assessment is focused on the process, as well as the final product. All of these evaluation methods emphasize common themes, such as problem solving and complex learning, which entail a wide range of responses and challenging tasks with multiple steps, time, and effort.
Alternative assessment affords us the ability to include motivation as an important factor in the evaluation process. This is especially relevant to constructivist learning environments which rely much more on intrinsic motivation than traditional learning environments \cite{Wilson96}.
The critics of alternative assessment complain that it is time and labor
intensive, and heterogeneous. The outcome of the evaluation can vary
widely in the specific knowledge domain being assessed. It can also vary
widely because individual students' performance
varies. It relies on students' verbal and communication abilities and
there's no easy comparison among students.
Perhaps the most common critique states that alternative assessment
lacks generlizability to other contexts. Some cognitive
psychologists, however, don't consider this a disadvantage, as
they believe that the nature of knowledge itself is highly
contextualized with limited generalizability \cite {Brown89}.
Moreover,
Successful learning means the ability to transfer thinking strategies effectively and apply them to other contexts \cite{McLellan94}.