Authentic tasks invite students to step into real-world challenges and practice the human skills they will rely on in their future careers. This approach infuses courses with deeper engagement, richer reflection, and practical, hands-on learning that feels connected to life beyond the classroom.
Simulations and role-playing offer powerful ways to bring authentic assessment to life. By placing students inside realistic scenarios, where they must make decisions, communicate effectively, and see the impact of their choices, these activities empower students to apply knowledge while building confidence. Students are actively using what they know and are experiencing what it feels like to apply it in real practice. AI (Artificial Intelligence) can help facilitate these experiences by easing content creation for instructors and enabling students to engage more deeply in active learning.
A Case Study: Dr. Molly Frommelt-Kuhle
Nursing educator and academic success coach Dr. Molly Frommelt-Kuhle knew traditional assessments wouldn’t prepare her students for the realities of teaching in clinical settings. Her students, future nurse educators, needed practice navigating the complex interpersonal and judgment-based challenges that define real teaching. She partnered with DOE to build a simulation exercise for her course using a dynamic roster of AI-generated student profiles representing the variety of learners her graduate students would someday encounter. The AI-supported design made creating and updating these profiles more efficient, making it easier to adapt the simulation alongside students and in response to their needs.
In this simulation, each learner profile presented a unique combination of strengths, challenges, and lived experiences, from first-generation students to nontraditional adult learners, English-language learners, and students needing accommodations. Rather than recalling theory, her students had to determine how to communicate with each simulated learner, adjust their approach, and practice handling difficult conversations with clarity and empathy. The experience felt real precisely because it required the kinds of human decisions educators make every day.
Authentic assessment can strengthen both learning and connection: students rehearse real-world skills, explore the nuance and emotion of professional practice, and build the confidence they simply cannot gain from traditional exams. Students were more engaged, reflective, and willing to experiment, noting that the simulation helped them “practice” being nurse educators long before entering a classroom. Molly also found that creating and updating scenarios took minutes, freeing her to focus on coaching students through meaningful interpersonal work rather than building materials.
Bringing Authentic Assessment to Your Classroom
Authentic assessment, whether through role-playing, simulations, or other experience-centered tasks, provides a flexible framework for any discipline. By emphasizing active, applied learning, these approaches move students beyond passive work and into meaningful practice with the skills that matter most: judgment, empathy, communication, and thoughtful decision-making. Even in AI-simulated environments, students experience meaningful practice for their future professions, deepening engagement while strengthening the human connections at the heart of learning.
Interested in bringing these kinds of interactive, real-world activities to your own course? Reach out to DOE!