Collaborative Evaluation Designs as an Authentic Course Assessment

Strategies for optimizing evaluator education involve ongoing discussions within the field of evaluation. There remains unrealized potential for authentic assessments to support and measure learning that demonstrates the integration of evaluation theory with practice. In this practice note, we advance collaborative evaluation designs as a useful authentic assessment for generating the type of applied learning evidence required within an evaluation-focused graduate course. First, we provide a brief review of educational literature, highlighting the value of authentic assessments and a description of the contexts where we effectively applied the collaborative evaluation design. Next, we offer details of the four instructional processes involved in the authentic assessment: planning development, feedback, and measurement. Finally, we advance lessons learned from our instructional experiences and the learner benefits of the collaborative evaluation design as an authentic assessment.