Students’, Educators’ and Employers’ Perspectives of Authenticity in Physiology Education

Authenticity has emerged as a prominent theme in education, driven by growing demands from governments and employers for a more professional and highly skilled workforce, and has been recognised as a key characteristic of assessment design that promotes deeper learning, with educators increasingly being encouraged to embed authenticity into course design. However, a consistent interpretation of authenticity remains lacking, particularly within discipline contexts, such as within physiology education. This presents a challenge for educators, with university policy calling for the incorporation of authentic assessment tasks, with only limited and generic guidance on how to design and implement them effectively within specific disciplines, particularly in non-vocational courses. To understand authenticity in the physiology context, semi-structured interviews (n = 29) were conducted, which gathered the perspectives of students (n = 10), educators (n = 11), and industry professionals (n = 8). Each interview was divided into the following two sections: definitions of authenticity and authentic assessment, and the evaluation and scoring of common assessments. The qualitative data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and the quantitative data (assessment scoring on a 5-point Likert scale) using the Kruskal–Wallis test and is presented as the median with an interquartile range. It was revealed that authenticity in physiology education can be understood through four themes: foundational knowledge as an enabler for authenticity, transferrable skills, authenticity emerges through the application of knowledge and problem solving creates opportunities for authentic learning. Collectively, the results of the study revealed a shared understanding of authentic learning as an activity that prepares students for real-world scenarios.