IS THERE A CORRELATION BETWEEN PROVIDING EXEMPLARS AND A CHANGE IN STUDENT MARKS? A REPORT ON A LOGITUDINAL STUDY DESIGNED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

The importance of assessment has been well established, but how to best communicate required standards and criteria to students are a more vexed concern. Students commonly ask 'How can I improve my marks in this unit?' They also commonly ask for examples of assignments or past exams in order to guide them. This article reports on the results of a longitudinal study which aimed to measure the value of using exemplars in terms of the impact that these exemplars have on students' marks. Exemplars which focused on the final exam were provided or withheld from different groupings of students undertaking the same unit of study over a number of years. Results for final exam grades achieved by students over a period of eight years have been recorded in order to provide guidance on what impact exemplars have on students' marks. The findings of this study reported in this article promulgate that exemplars are a highly valuable tool for improving students' marks.