Finally, alternative assessment should affect the impact of the curriculum on the students. Assessment is the most powerful signal we give the students in telling what we as educators expect of them. It requires the use of judgment and values and the development of personal, practical knowledge. The curriculum should become more meaningful for students as they see its relevance to themselves and their experiences. Increased student participation in their assessment will impart a feeling of purpose and sense of control in their own education.
Alternative evaluation is discovery oriented.
Its flexible framework makes the curriculum less rigid and allows the students to explore the unexpected and to deal with the unpredictable - and these are important skills for living in the real world today and in the world of tomorrow. Doctoral dissertation, Florida State University, Tallahassee. Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. The meaning of alternative paradigms for practice. On the nature of anthropological understanding.