The only way is ethics: A dialogue of assessment and social good

What is assessment for good in the current higher education landscape? Assessment does not just “drive learning”. It plays a role in shaping students’ orientations towards future learning, beyond any course, and beyond graduation. It influences the kinds of knowledge and identity that hold legitimate status in disciplines and communities. It shapes power and trust relationships between junior and senior members of organisations, between those with different roles, between educational institutions and society. Through dialogue, this chapter challenges foundational assumptions about assessment in HE by considering meanings, possibilities and examples of ‘assessment for good’ in two disciplinary contexts of medical (Tim) and mathematics (Juuso) education. In doing so, tensions are highlighted between traditions of individualism and authentic, messy forms of learning and unpredictable outcomes. The dialogue in this chapter emphasises that there is no right way to go about assessment for good, and that multiple perspectives need to be taken into account.