Real-World Performance Tasks
Explore innovative research topic ideas for real-world tasks in education for 2025. Discover how performance assessments can enhance learning outcomes and engage students effectively in educational research.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Realyn Manalo
4/10/20253 min read
What if students didn’t just memorize facts but actually solved real problems before they graduated? This question took center stage at the Komunidad Xchange forum hosted by the Technological Institute of the Philippines (T.I.P.), where educators, experts, and industry leaders gathered to challenge the status quo of classroom instruction. As industries evolve rapidly and demand more than theoretical knowledge, the traditional education model—centered on lectures and exams—no longer seems sufficient.
This is where real-world performance tasks offer a compelling solution. Instead of relying solely on tests, these assessments challenge students to apply what they’ve learned in meaningful contexts—whether it’s pitching a business idea, prototyping a product, or collaborating with actual companies. Educators like Paolo Josef Blando from the National Teachers College are championing this shift, urging teachers to act as mentors and facilitators. Industry leaders from sectors like SEIPI are also calling for stronger school-to-industry partnerships. If we want future graduates to be job-ready and resilient, our methods of assessment must evolve alongside our expectations.
Who Can Use These Topics
This research is ideal for students and professionals pursuing the following courses or strands:
College Programs:
Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED)
Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED)
BS in Industrial Engineering (for capstone and design projects)
BS in Business Administration (major in Operations, Marketing, or Entrepreneurship)
BS in Information Technology or Computer Science (project-based learning emphasis)
BS in Psychology (for performance and competency assessments)
Senior High School Strands:
Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS)
Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM)
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL)
General Academic Strand (GAS)
Why This Topic Needs Research
As education reforms embrace performance-based approaches, several important research gaps need to be addressed:
Lack of diverse, multi-setting implementation studies: While initial findings are promising, most research focuses on isolated schools or case studies. Petalla and Doromal (2021) emphasized the need to capture a broader range of student and teacher experiences to better inform national education policy and performance task design.
Limited use of quantitative and mixed-method approaches: Weng et al. (2022) noted that most studies used qualitative case methods. There’s a need for robust, data-driven research to assess how different technologies and real-world tasks impact creativity and learning outcomes across varied educational environments.
Missing student-centered curriculum co-design: Although real-world learning is widely promoted, students are rarely involved in defining what it means. O'Neill and Short (2025) highlighted the importance of engaging students as partners in curriculum design to ensure that tasks are relevant, practical, and aligned with their aspirations.
Performance systems often ignore marginalized communities: Robertson et al. (2021) revealed how algorithmic assignment systems and institutional designs fail to consider the lived experiences of underserved families, leading to misalignment between theory and practice in performance task integration.
Lack of validated cognitive tools for applied assessment: According to Draheim et al. (2022), research lacks ecologically valid tools to measure attention control and real-world task performance, limiting insight into how cognitive skills translate into classroom and workplace success.
Insufficient testing across subject domains: While real-world tasks have proven effective in fields like business math, Galman and Del Rosario (2021) argued for broader application across other disciplines to validate general effectiveness and instructional value.
Limited cross-disciplinary application of PBATs: Salendab and Dapitan (2021) found that performance-based assessments significantly improve communication skills, but their impact on other academic subjects remains underexplored, calling for expanded trials in STEM, humanities, and more.
Feasibility & Challenges by Target Group
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References
Draheim, C., Pak, R., Draheim, A. A., & Engle, R. W. (2022). The role of attention control in complex real-world tasks. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29(4), 1143-1197.
Galman, S. M. A., & Del Rosario, J. C. (2021). Linking Real-Life Situations with Classroom Assessment: Development of Real-Life Performance-Based Tasks in Business Mathematics. Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics, 9(3), 485-502.
O'Neill, G., & Short, A. (2025). Relevant, practical and connected to the real world: what higher education students say engages them in the curriculum. Irish Educational Studies, 44(1), 23-40.
Petalla, M. B., & Doromal, A. C. (2021). Students in the real-world of performance tasks assessment: A qualitative inquiry. Philippine Social Science Journal, 4(1), 53-60.
Robertson, S., Nguyen, T., & Salehi, N. (2021, May). Modeling assumptions clash with the real world: Transparency, equity, and community challenges for student assignment algorithms. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).
Salendab, F. A., & Dapitanb, Y. C. (2021). Effectiveness of Performance-Based Assessment Tools (PBATs) and the Students’ Academic Performance. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(10), 6919-6928.
Weng, X., Chiu, T. K., & Tsang, C. C. (2022). Promoting student creativity and entrepreneurship through real-world problem-based maker education. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 45, 101046.