Su, Feng and O'Dea, Michael and Wood, Margaret and Seidl, Eva (2026) Embracing a new world: authentic assessment designs in an age of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education. ISSN 1360-3108
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Higher education academic practices are increasingly shaped by technologies. The recent advancement of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has posed both challenges and opportunities. In this paper, drawing on relevant literature through a rapid review, the authors argue that rethinking assessment design in an era of artificial intelligence is essential for preparing students for a rapidly evolving world. GenAI can help reconceptualise authenticity through students' transparent, purposeful interactions with this technology. In this shifting landscape, higher education must embrace authenticity as hybrid and relational, fostering assessment practices that value insight, context, and co-constructed meaning in technologically mediated learning environments. To illustrate how authentic assessment designs can be realised in the age of GenAI, four scenarios are presented: (1) the integration of GenAI within a social science assessment task; (2) GenAI-assisted language education; (3) the use of GenAI in a computer database assignment in computer science; and (4) the adoption of GenAI-enhanced assessment design in medical education. These scenarios demonstrate possibilities for aligning assessment designs in higher education with present technological realities. The paper also highlights the importance of developing GenAI literacy among staff and students, positioning such literacy as a foundational capability for effective and ethical engagement with AI-enabled assessment designs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information and Comments: | © 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. |
| Keywords: | Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), authentic assessment, higher education, AI literacy, academic practice |
| Faculty / Department: | Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education |
| SWORD Depositor: | RISE Symplectic |
| Depositing User: | RISE Symplectic |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Feb 2026 12:10 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Feb 2026 12:10 |
| URI: | https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4834 |
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