What is the assessment method that evaluates students in real-life situations?

The assessment method that evaluates students in real-life situations is known as authentic assessment. This approach focuses on measuring students' knowledge and skills through tasks that reflect real-world challenges and activities. Authentic assessments provide a more accurate representation of what students can do with the knowledge they have acquired, as they involve practical applications of skills in contexts that closely resemble actual experiences outside of the classroom.

For example, in authentic assessments, students might participate in projects, conduct experiments, or engage in problem-solving scenarios that require critical thinking and creativity. This form of assessment not only evaluates the end products of learning but also emphasizes the process and the ability to transfer knowledge to different situations, making it highly relevant for lifelong learning.

In contrast, other assessment methods, such as standardized testing, focus on predetermined criteria and often do not relate to real-life applications. Formative assessment is aimed at monitoring student learning progress through ongoing feedback, while summative assessment evaluates learning at the end of an instructional unit. These alternatives serve different purposes but do not specifically assess real-world skills in the same way that authentic assessment does.