A marker can assess only what a student actually writes, not knowledge revealed privately in class or conversation. Giving credit for unrecorded understanding would favour students the marker happens to know and would be unfair to everyone else. Participation can be recognized separately, but an essay or exam answer still has to supply its own evidence and reasoning. An unexpected idea can work if the writer explicitly shows how it answers the question; without that connection, even interesting material is off topic. Coursework allows an instructor to ask how the idea is relevant without prescribing the answer, whereas an exam offers no such opportunity to correct a misreading. A coherent argument earns latitude, while unsupported jumps do not, making relevance and logical development central to fair assessment.
Notable Point · 1:40:37-1:45:49
Evidence, relevance, and fair assessment
A teaching discussion explains why markers must judge the evidence and argument on the page, while unusual ideas earn credit only when their relevance is made explicit.