Open Note/Closed Computer: The Hidden Dark Side
Andrew does a great job illuminating the hidden underside of forcing students to print out their outlines.
Is the use of "find" really that big of a deal? Does the advantage go to the tabber? I have no idea.
posted by James at 12:21 PM
14 Comments:
but if we plant new pulp trees and bury the paper, aren't we getting ahead on the CO2 game?
I don't understand why profs feel the need to punish me for being good at a skill that I will definitely use in real practice (control F).
It's so true. Everyone uses computers on exams. Control F works on everyone's computer. It's what we do at work.
WTF. KVH I WANT ANSWERS
How dare you attempt to impose your new-fangled control-f'ing ways on the timeless majesty of the law school exam?! Real law school exams are hand written. In blood. On stone tablets. You should be grateful you are allowed to type at all.
Besides, who ever claimed law school exams were related to real world practice?
2:49, points out the fundamental mistake.
A few years ago a Boalt professor stated in a mass email that if anyone were caught using the find function on the final, she would do her best to have them not just failed but expelled. Then she said, all this without a hint of irony, that she would write letters to every bar committee recommending that the student not be admitted. Because they used the find function. I don't miss that professor.
This is an age old issue. If you ask me, just being able to use Word instead of the dreaded ExamSoft is an improvement that's to be celebrated. And as another aside, analogizing law school to the practice is laughable at best. There's very little about legal education that mirrors what attorneys do in their practice. To me, that's a good thing, and perhaps a topic for another day.
Specifically, I've previously heard professors explain that their concern with electronic outlines and the use of CTRL+F is not that students will be able to speedily locate issues they have studied in their notes or outlines, but that you may write generic paragraphs in advance and simply copy/paste that into your answer. Sure, we all do that as practicing attorneys too. Do you really think we rewrite the legal standard for summary judgment every freakin' time? But if you do that, then it's defeating the whole point of having an exam that tests your knowledge on the spot. So if you were a law professor, how would you guard against what is essentially cheating? The Honor Code is admirable and goes a long way, but would it effectively detect this type of cheating? All exams can be take home, but then would Boalties compete effectively against the Bar Exam taking machines churned out by the USFs and Pepperdines of the world (where law school exams are specifically tailored to the bar)?
Personally, I think the real travesty in all this is that you all are creating outlines that are so long that there's concern for felled trees!
Funny, the line I was given was that allowing students to use Ctrl+F put disabled students at a disadvantage. I better not go there, though.
On another note, the comments to this post made me wonder which I actually do more: flip through pages, or use Ctrl+F to search digital documents? Although most of the documents I work with are computerized, I think it might actually be that I spend more time flipping through physical sheets of paper than I do using the Ctrl+F function. But I'm not sure.
@2:46 - not true. It's command-f on a mac. Stop homogenizing everyone into your PC-centric stereotypes.
I'mOffended.
I don't understand that what will be happen to do this? Actually. But nice thinking about it.
@alameda plumbiing
A plumber is attended to a leaking faucet at the General Counsel's house. After a two-minute job the plumber demanded $1,500.
The GC exclaimed, "I can't charge this amount even though I'm a lawyer."
The plumber replied, "You are right. I couldn't either when I was a lawyer. That's why I switched to plumbing!"
Couldn't you pre-write sections of your exam and just copy them over? It's still faster than thinking it up on the spot.
Also, who cares if people do that. I just want some command-F goodness on my outline.
Are exams really so amendable to thoughtless copy and pasting? How much different is it to type something out?
10:22, when you have to type it out on the spot you make noob mistakes like saying "amendable" instead of "amenable."
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