Student perspectives on assessment: connections between self and society

This article explores STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) student associations of assessment with individual achievement, becoming part of a discipline or profession, or developing an orientation towards society. This perspective is based in Frankfurt School critical theory, which argues for the inter-relation between individual and social wellbeing. From a critical theory perspective, education should facilitate movement from a conception of the individual as autonomous towards the individual as a member of society: this is the foundation of social justice. We consider this philosophical position against the empirical experiences of students to explore the extent to which their engagement with assessment has helped shape a sense of interconnectedness between themselves and others in society. We describe a longitudinal and comparative study among chemistry and chemical engineering undergraduate students at universities in England, South Africa and the USA. The study finds that only a very small number of students display any orientation to society when discussing assessment. This is surprising because there are a number of socially-related assessment tasks within the curricula. More may be required to achieve a higher education oriented to social justice than simply the deliberate inclusion of socially-related activities in the curriculum or as assessment tasks.