Title: Authentic assessment in a sport management degree granting programme: design elements for a sport and law course

Authors: Hilary A. Findlay, Barb Bloemhof

Addresses: Department of Sport Management, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2S 3A1, Canada. ' Department of Economics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M4, Canada

Abstract: Calls for a greater curricular emphasis on critical thinking skills emphasise the need to consider how best to develop such skills but, equally important, how to assess their development. Where traditional testing methods (all too prevalent in our curricula) measure lower-level cognitive skills, authentic assessment measures higher-level cognitive skills (i.e., critical thinking skills). This article examines the design elements of an authentic assessment experience called Sport Court used in a sport management sport and law course. Sport Court has been used with classes ranging in size from 80 to 170 students.

Keywords: authentic assessment; contextualised learning; assessment; situated learning; course design; sport and law; sport management degree; sport management education; sport management courses; critical thinking; higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2008.018647

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2008 Vol.4 No.2/3, pp.165 - 184

Published online: 04 Jun 2008 *

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