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William D. Randall's Blog (of no particular interest to no one in particular)
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"We Have Just Begun to Fight...." Winston Churchill "Audentes Fortuna Juvat" - "Fortune Favors the Bold"
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Saturday, December 16, 2006
FINALS BLOGGING SERIES – POST GAME RECAP The old law school adage is that they work you to death the second year. Well, halfway through the second year and I will admit the adage is true. Five classes with five exams at three hours each, by the third one I was feeling pretty punchy, and by the fifth one I probably wrote something about the relationship of the coarse theorem to the introduction of character evidence. In other words, I was baked, flambéed, and fricasseed, and it probably showed up on the exam. On an aside, I personally believe that the traditional way of grading students in law school is a joke. In undergrad, pop quizzes and multiple examinations were routine. By the end of the course, everyone in the class was at least familiar with the material. In law school however, grades are all dependent on one three-hour exam. Law school professors justify this method of grading two ways. First, they argue that this is how the bar tests the material, and by golly if the state can do it for the bar exam I can do it for my class. Or the second, which is that law schools traditionally test the material this way so why mess with tradition. In my opinion as a student, both of these reasons breed malpractice and discontent. The bar exam is a different beast in itself and should have no bearing on how grades are determined in law school. Grades in law school should be based on three factors. First, it should be based on how well a student has mastered the material. This can be tested in a number of ways, from pop quizzes, the true use of the Socratic Method in presenting the material, or through short fact patterns given weekly to students in which the professor provides feedback. Second, theory is one thing, practicality is another. A good quote pertaining to law school is this, “the law you learn in law school, is different than the law you learn for the bar, and is different than the law you learn in practice. Never get the three mixed up.” While the Finally, professors gripe and complain about making copies of past exams available. They are even more appalled by making model answers available. I would require that past exams and model answers be made available to students. First, many are way too detailed for purposes of a three-hour exam but they allow a student to see IRAC in practice. Second, it provides insight on the professor’s phrasing of the rules. Finally, they help to provide focus to a student’s studies, if the student should focus on policy or rules by writing to the preferences of the professor. When professor’s openly gripe about the poor quality of student writing, in many instances they share some of the blame. I would like to say that I am not a superstitious person, but I was wearing my lucky BTW…..The next Labels: Finals Blogging Series
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