Review: Our PhD students discover why being authentic is essential
25 June 2025
In this post we hear the perspectives of two CRADLE PhD students, Xin Liu and Nisrina Wibisono, on CRADLE’s most recent seminar “Why authenticity matters: Helping students to find meaning and value in assessment”. This seminar was presented by Dr Tim Chambers, CRADLE Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology.
Why authenticity matters: Helping students to find meaning and value in assessments
The seminar unpacked the results of Tim Chambers‘ recent research investigating students’ perceptions in health psychology assessments. It showed how psychological authenticity shapes students’ perceptions of assessment value, which offers new perspectives that are beyond traditional notions of authentic assessment.
Tim began by introducing a common issue: first-year psychology students, particularly those aspiring to clinical psychology careers, often struggle to engage meaningfully with assessment tasks.
Not only are they overwhelmed by the transition into university, but many also fail to see how their coursework connects to personal goals or professional futures.
This challenge is compounded by conventional definitions of authentic assessment, which often focus on replicating real-world tasks and fail to engage students holistically or foster meaningful personal development. Building on this, Tim introduced the concept of psychological authenticity, which means that the perceived alignment between a student’s personal values and the assessment task.
When students recognise this coherence, they are more likely to be intrinsically motivated and experience the task as truly meaningful, and act with ownership and reflection. Tim also suggests broadening vocational exposure to disciplines related to psychology, such as social work, allowing students to explore various career options without premature specialization. The discussion also references scholarly work to question the limitations of authentic assessments while advocating for their refinement rather than dismissal.
Xin’s thoughts
Dr Tim Chambers’ seminar gave me lots of inspirations for my PhD project on how international doctoral students experience feedback across cultural and spatial contexts. Like first-year undergraduates, they often struggle with unfamiliar systems and expectations, which can make feedback feel disconnected or irrelevant. Therefore, authenticity is essential—not just in assessment tasks, but in creating space for students to find meaning and self-recognition. This can be achieved through real-world tasks, valuing student voice, and creating feedback as a dialogical, culturally responsive process.
Nisrina’s thoughts
Dr Tim Chambers’ seminar offered valuable insights that resonate with my PhD research on coursework Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) students’ experiences with GenAI feedback in higher education. His call to broaden the concept of authenticity mirrors the challenges CALD students face when trying to connect with traditional feedback systems. Many of these students encounter difficulties not just in understanding academic expectations but also in relating feedback to their personal and professional goals. In this context, GenAI tools may offer a means of psychological authenticity by allowing these students to interact with feedback that feels more aligned with their individual needs, learning paces, and linguistic backgrounds—supporting students in seeking clarity, reassurance, and meaningful engagement that traditional feedback may sometimes not provide.
About Xin and Nisrina
Xin is interested in feedback literacy and wants to integrate the approach of student as partners/co-creation/co-design in the feedback research to promote equity and inclusion.
Nisrina is a cotutelle PhD student at Coventry University, conducting research on the experiences of coursework Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) students with Generative AI feedback in their higher education assignments. She holds a Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and brings experience in English–Indonesian translation, English language teaching, and remote AI training.
Missed the seminar? Catch up on our YouTube channel or our Seminar blog page.
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