ABSTRACT
Performance-based assessments by nature should be authentic. Using real-world problems involves taking the content we have to teach and connecting it to a real-world situation. Performance-based assessment by its very definition allows the teacher to put the lesson in the real world because it calls for action. The criteria to making our PBA authentic is making sure students are employing higher level thinking in order to master the assessment. In a performance-based assessment where there is not a written performance, the higher level questioning comes in the learning outcome we want students to achieve. The classification and explanation of how students identified rocks are all in the realm of application, a lower level skill.
