Vodcasting in tandem with annotated exemplars to improve student performance

This article reports the findings of a study into the effect on student performance of the provision of both annotated exemplars and the supplementary resource of a vodcasted exemplar. This research is the third part of a long-term project designed to measure the impact that exemplars may have upon students within an interdisciplinary (service) Law unit offered by the School of Law at the University of Western Sydney (UWS). The first part of the project explored student perceptions on the value of exemplars. The second part examined the effect on student performance of the provision of annotated exemplars. The research team identified in the second stage of the project, on the basis of assertions in relevant literature, that there was scope to improve student performance further by providing additional resources to supplement the annotated exemplars. A vodcasted exemplar, which students could “stream” via the university's online learning website, was provided as this additional resource. This exemplar was selected as the most appropriate supplementary resource to use within the constraints of a large interdisciplinary law unit with a large teaching staff and taught across multiple campuses. The authors conclude that the provision of the vodcast and annotated exemplars did result in further improvements of student performance.