Digital Storytelling as Authentic Assessment: A Case from an Undergraduate Education Module”

Dragas, Teti

Abstract

Digital storytelling’s unique capacity as a reflective tool that draws on personal experience in a creative way has been widely noted. However, in Higher Education contexts, there seems to be a gap in research terms and in pedagogical guidance on why and how digital storytelling can be integrated into assessment effectively that supports student learning. This paper will draw on a case study of an undergraduate module in Education Studies where digital storytelling was designed as a summative assessment that combined a Digital story with a reflective component and a more ‘traditional’ academic essay (n=200). We show how the digital storytelling assessment supports current approaches in higher education that foreground ‘assessment for learning’ where DS here functions an example of ‘authentic assessment’ (Sambell et al. 2013). However, we extend this approach pedagogically and theoretically proposing a pedagogical framework where DS is a key component, that fosters deep learning or, more usefully, epistemic development, through increasing relevance, meaning and engagement (Entwistle, 1997; Marton and Booth, 2013). We focus on the concept of ‘voice’ as a tool through which to bring in the ‘student’s perspective’ (Haggis, 2010) and argue the concept of voice extends the concept of deep learning into this more socially situated space, as well as being a key heuristic device to underpin this signature pedagogy. Finally, we will open up the question as to the extent to which multimodal assessments such as this can offer new assessments methods that can be more creative, inclusive, engaging and meaningful which is increasingly important in the landscape of the threat of AI technologies to assessment practices.

Citation

Dragas, T. (2023, June). Digital Storytelling as Authentic Assessment: A Case from an Undergraduate Education Module”. Paper presented at DST 11th International Digital Storytelling Conference, University of Maryland, Montgomery College, Smithsonian Institute. USA

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: DST 11th International Digital Storytelling Conference
• Start Date: Jun 20, 2023
• End Date: Jun 23, 2023
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3720710