Should you provide samples of prior assessments?

- [Narrator] In education, many times students will ask…for examples of prior papers, past exams,…or previous student projects,…and many instructors freely make these available.…The question, then, is, is this valuable?…The answer depends on the goal.…What is the real value of showing students…a previous example?…If an example assessment will help students focus…and acquire the necessary skills and comprehension,…then an example is likely valuable.…However, and this is the important caveat,…if by showing an example assessment,…you're giving the students a template,…rather than having them create…something that helps them learn,…then an example would not be helpful.…

As an example, if students are expected to create…an artistic representation of their understanding…of electrons, protons and neutrons,…and you give them a Styrofoam model…structured with wooden dowels,…then you are likely to get a lot of projects…that look nearly identical.…You've simply given the students something to copy.…However, if you instead gave some boundaries…