This Is a Test? 10 Untraditional Ways to Assess Learning

What if the best way to know whether a student understands something isn't a traditional test at all? What if it was a bathroom stall poster or a campus full of long lines and slow WiFi?

In this Top 10 episode, instructors share 10 alternative assessments they've used to measure student learning beyond standardized tests. These authentic and unconventional assessments ask students to apply what they know, explain their thinking, communicate with real audiences, recognize course concepts in new situations, and reflect on their own learning.

Some of the ideas are delightfully strange. Underneath all of them is a much more serious question: What are we actually trying to measure?

From an escape-room final that tests students' understanding of processes to an oral math assessment, a HyFlex take-home exam, and a review game designed so nobody gets to hide, these are practical assessment ideas instructors can borrow, adapt, or steal outright.

Brought to you by Macmillan Learning.

Episode Breakdown

[1:09] Put Assessment in the Wild. Make students design for a real audience, not just the grader.

[4:00] Escape the Exam. Turn problem-solving into the assessment itself.

[5:46] Make Chemistry Perform. Ask students to demonstrate the concept, then explain it.

[8:18] Make the campus itself the case study. Use real-world problems as an economics assessment.

[11:23] Talk It Out. Use oral assessment to reveal student understanding.

[13:48] Solve a Problem From Every Angle. Assess whether students can connect knowledge across fields.