Offering Assessment Autonomy to Graduate Students With a Choice of Paper or Project as a Final Examination

One strategy to foster motivation involves creating worthwhile assessments that are highly engaging, specifically creating assessments that foster autonomy. Assessment autonomy involves the use of choice-based and/or flexible ways in which learners can demonstrate their knowledge, strengths, interests, and/or personal decisions through potentially different types, times, and/or weights of assessments supported with clear expectations. This study seeks to explore graduate students’ experiences with one of two assessments, a paper or a project. The participants documented the reasons they chose one format or the other, while also expanding on their experiences. Findings indicate there are benefits to using assessment autonomy, such as the students being able to showcase their strengths and synthesize information for deeper understanding. Findings also suggest that we, as educators, need to be aware of how assessment autonomy could invite more stress and anxiety. This research further connected the tenets of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within self-determination theory.