I so so agree with you Phil re: It is also why so many students learn very quickly what they must do to satisfy the examiner ...
in fact in the recorded webinar I saw someone write in the chat .... (words along the lines of ..)
... Students say ... "just tell me what to do"
I have said this myself - or even more overtly ... 'LOOK - tell me what you want & I will give it to you..."
Especailly when I am doing some 'learning' because I have to .. in fact I often go straight to the assessment requirements and begin 'there'.
I am not saying this is 'good' (or even bad I guess) - It is what it is - especailly when Person X holds the 'ticks' and I NEED x amount of 'ticks' to get Z outcome (almost always a bit of paper) so I can (most often) give it to Authority Z ...
So (most often) Authority Z can put a really BIG TICK against my name (and then everyone is happy :)
I know it sounds cynical and it is, I guess. In many ways I am sad to say Uni taught me this the most. (but to be fair that was a long time ago & I am sure things have changed now )
and also - please don't get me wrong. I was the FIRST in my extended family to even go to Uni - complete with a number of people in the street to see me drive off on my first day ..... and I do have much 'fondness' for my degree and I really did learn how to play the game ... a skill which has helped me in life and one I did overtly encourage my children to learn as well ...... (AND I also did learn other things )
Maybe a classic case of Emergent Unplanned Learning - unassessable (except for the fact I got 'good' grades - even from the 'hard markers' lol ) - but valuable learning for some situations nether-the-less :) ??