This paper presents a rationale for learner outcome assessment and an overview of the methods, instruments, and issues that instructors should consider when they design and use assessment of student CDIO skills. It argues the majority of actual assessment practices should be revised to satisfy learner needs, and to improve student learning and performance. To increase their performance, students need educative assessment, which has at least two essential qualities: firstly it is anchored in authentic tasks; secondly it provides students and teachers with feedback and opportunities they can readily use to revise their performance on these or similar tasks (Wiggins, 1998). This is known as authentic assessment and is intended as a richer and more stimulating method for assessing student learning. It provides students with complex and real world situations to be solved. Authentic assessment requires students to act upon open-ended situations like a professional, by mobilizing their knowledge as well as their broad CDIO skills and attitudes. Only minor adjustments are made to fit any resources constrains (budget, time, and space). Also, continuous faculty feedback plays an essential role, since it allows students to improve before the final demonstration of their skills and competencies. In this sense, assessment is part of the learning process. Hands-on projects offer a natural setting for authentic assessment in engineering education. However, there are some issues one should consider before turning to this method. Specifically, authentic assessment requires well organized planning to help design and outline adequate assessment instruments, foresee effective feedback mechanisms, with the intention to foster student learning and success. Hence, implementing authentic assessment requires: 1) formulating clear achievement targets; 2) choosing a real-world task; 3) writing a complex task; 4) giving clear instructions; 5) preparing a grading rubric; 6) designing scoring keys. This paper offers helpful information, practical advice, and handy examples to help instructors improve their methods for assessing student learning, particularly within the CDIO curricula.
