Improving performance in contractual problem solving : clarifying criteria and standards through the use of exemplars

The implementation of criterion and standards-based assessment regimes in institutions of higher education has been driven by the belief in its capacity to support student learning and in its support of transparent and defensible assessment judgments. However, the provision of criteria and standards alone is insufficiently robust to ensure that students are adequately equipped with the requisite knowledge to satisfy the stated criteria and standards. This paper concerns the first phase of a larger research project which aims to contribute to the development of the effectual use of criteria and standards by the introduction of exemplars in a systematic fashion into the learning resources provided for students engaged in LLB units. In this phase of the project, students were provided with access to five annotated exemplars of law assignments. These exemplars contained detailed feedback on papers which had received fail, pass, credit, distinction and high distinction grades. Each paper received detailed individualised comments in addition to the various performances being mapped against the articulated criteria and standards. Two questionnaires were developed to test the impact of exemplars on studentsââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ experience in the performance of assessment tasks: one during the preparatory phase of assessment completion and one following submission of the assessment. These surveys will be continued over a number of years in an attempt to discern how student learning and teaching practices can be best improved. This paper sets out our preliminary results and outlines our objectives to further refine the use of exemplars.