When considering assessment choices for online courses, consider utilizing a mix of authentic and traditional assessments. Adding authentic assessments to a course can help learners to engage more with the materials, to gain a deeper understanding of course concepts as they complete projects, and to resist the temptation to cheat on exams.

For example, if the purpose of an assessment is to ascertain whether students have a clear understanding of basic terms and concepts, a traditional assessment such as a quiz, exam, or essay would be a good choice.

If the purpose of the assessment is to determine whether students are able to apply, evaluate, or analyze the concepts they have learned or to create something based on what they have learned, authentic assessment methods such as a portfolio, project, or presentation may be the better choice.

As previously mentioned, the assessment chosen should correspond to a learning objective for the course.

Bloom's Taxonomy, often used by instructors when preparing learning outcomes and objectives, may suggest appropriate assessment types for specific objectives.

Choose traditional assessment when the objective is:

Table 1 - Lower order tasks according to Bloom's taxonomy.
Knowledge	Understanding	*Application
define, identify, describe, label, list, name, state, match, recognize, select, examine, locate, memorize, quote, recall, reproduce, tabulate, tell, copy, discover, duplicate, enumerate	explain, described interpret, paraphrase, summarize, classify, compare, differentiate, discuss, distinguish, extend, predict, associate, contrast, convert, demonstrate, estimate, express, identify, indicate, infer, relate	solve, apply, illustrate, modify, use, calculate, change, choose, demonstrate, discover, experiment, relate, show, sketch complete, construct, dramatize, interpret, manipulate, paint, prepare, produce

*Application tasks are often suitable for authentic assessment.

Choose authentic assessment when the objective is:

Table 2 - Higher order tasks according to Bloom's Taxonomy
Analyze	Evaluate	Create
analyze, compare, classify, contrast, distinguish, infer, separate, explain, select, categorize, connect, differentiate, discriminate, divide, order, point out, prioritize, subdivide, survey, advertise, appraise, break down.	reframe, criticize, evaluate, order, appraise, judge, support, compare, decide, discriminate, recommend, summarize, assess, choose, convince, defend, estimate, find errors, grade, measure, predict, rank	design, compose, create, plan, combine, formulate, invent, hypothesize, substitute, write, compile, construct, develop, generalize, integrated, modify, organize, prepare, produce rearrange, rewrite, role-play