Humanity, Expectations, Access And Transformation (HEAT): Revisiting South African Higher Education Entrance Assessment In A postcolonial contex

Abstract

Entrance assessment and standardized testing is a feature of the South African higher education landscape, with many universities using assessment and testing as benchmarking, placement or, in some instances, gatekeeping exercises. Entrance assessment practices seek to inform universities about the capabilities of students. In this paper we examine current entrance assessment paradigms and practices through our frame of humanity, expectations, access and transformation (HEAT) embedded in a broader lens of postcolonialism. We claim that current practices do not lay a foundation for meeting the larger goals of higher education – they do not transform human relationships, ignore ways of being in the world, fail to sufficiently embed learning-centred teaching, nor promote metacognitive development, self-efficacy, resilience or lead to transformation. In so doing, we contribute a new way of thinking about the transformation of higher education today and the way in which diagnostic assessment could be re-visited to meet broader goals.