Fifteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

In the past few decades, graduate student teaching development (GSTD) programs have proliferated on university campuses as both credit and non-credit offerings. In non-credit programs, certification is often based on attendance and self-reported learning gains, and there have been calls for more robust assessment strategies. One Canadian research university recently developed a non-credit certificate in university teaching and learning based on the principles of authentic assessment. This case study reviews the authentic learning tasks in the program, feedback participants receive, and participants’ understanding of how they have met the program-level learning outcomes. Initial findings indicate that authentic assessment in a GSTD program provides graduate students with meaningful opportunities to develop teaching competencies and also provides program facilitators with clear evidence of participant learning. Incorporating authentic assessment in non-credit teaching development programs may provide more robust assessment of both individual participant learning and program effectiveness.