Designing an authentic assessment - "The Apprentice" task.

One of the major paradigm shifts in higher education addressing the changes in the world of employment and societal needs is the Assessment for Learning (AFL) movement. Assessment authenticity has been identified as a key component of this paradigm promoting learning and employability development. According to Raymond et al. (2013), authentic assessment design relies on three main considerations. Realism requires a connection between learning and everyday professional life, contextualisation requires knowledge application to professional situations and problematisation revolves around solving a problem or meeting a need in a professional setting. This academic year, the Biosciences department at HSB is undertaking a thorough review of the assessment provision to promote greater authenticity. Informed by this review, one such assessment was redesigned in a 30-credit module taken by MSc students. Modelled on the Apprentice BBC show, students are required to collaborate and present a bid for a new field clinic to diagnose a specific disease. In this presentation, we will discuss the new assessment structure including novel interventions for promoting collaboration and supporting students. In addition, we will provide our observations on the quality and depth of learning demonstrated by the students during the assessment.