Law School Academic Support Blog

Academic and Bar Support Scholarship Spotlight

As Simpsons news anchor Kent Brockman put it:  "I for one welcome our new [Artificial Intelligence] overlords."

Tammy Pettinato Oltz (North Dakota),  ChatGPT, Professor of Law, 2023 U. Ill. J.L. Tech. & Pol'y 207 (2023).

From the abstract:

Although ChatGPT was just released by OpenAI in November 2022, legal scholars have already been delving into the implications of the new tool for legal education and the legal profession. Several scholars have recently written fascinating pieces examining ChatGPT’s ability to pass the bar, write a law review article, create legal documents, or pass a law school exam. In the spirit of those experiments, I decided to see whether ChatGPT had potential for lightening the service and teaching loads of law school professors.

To conduct my experiment, I created an imaginary law school professor with a tough but typical week of teaching- and service- related tasks ahead of her. I chose seven common tasks: creating a practice exam question, designing a hand-out for a class, writing a letter of recommendation, submitting a biography for a speaking engagement, writing opening remarks for a symposium, developing a document for a law school committee, and designing a syllabus for a new course. I then ran prompts for each task through ChatGPT to see how well the system performed the tasks.

Remarkably, ChatGPT was able to provide useable first drafts for six out of seven of the tasks assigned in only 23 minutes. Overall and unsurprisingly, ChatGPT proved to be best at those tasks that are most routine. Tasks that require more sophistication, particularly those related to teaching, were harder for ChatGPT, but still showed potential for time savings.

In this paper, I describe a typical work scenario for a hypothetical law professor, show how she might use ChatGPT, and analyze the results. I conclude that ChatGPT can drastically reduce the service-related workload of law school faculty and can also shave off time on back-end teaching tasks. This freed-up time could be used to either enhance scholarly productivity or further develop more sophisticated teaching skills.

[Posted by Louis Schulze, FIU Law, who ChatGPT has now officially rendered useless.]

SWCASP & MWCASP Call for Proposals

Call for Proposals: SWCASP & MWCASP Joint One-Day Workshop

The Southwestern Consortium of Academic Support Professionals and the Midwestern Consortium of Academic Support Professionals are now accepting proposals for presentations at their Joint Workshop taking place in-person at the Saint Louis University School of Law on Friday, March 8, 2024. We welcome proposals from presenters in the Southwest or Midwest regions and beyond! While we are excited to return to an in-person workshop this year, we also will try to record the workshop for those unable to travel to St. Louis.

The theme of this year's Workshop is Practical and Innovative Techniques to Approach Teaching and Advising for the Next Gen Bar Exam and the Next Generation of Lawyers. The Workshop Planning Committee seeks presentations focused on:

• What we can do to prepare the students entering our classroom that don't have the same skills as previous classes;
• How to advise students in the face of the many unknowns that accompany the adoption of the Next Gen Bar Exam; and
• How to advise and support faculty in moving forward with their own teaching in a way that embraces the changes presented by the bar exam and legal practice.

Preference will be given to presentations that are both interactive and contain Lessons or Presentations in a Box (where the presenter provides all of the information and materials necessary for attendees to leave the session prepared to deliver the lesson or presentation on their own).

Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with all acceptances going out by the week of February 12, 2024. To apply, please complete the proposal SUBMISSION FORM by January 31, 2024. The Submission Form requests the following information:

• Name and Email of Presenter(s)

• Title of proposed presentation

• Brief description of your proposed presentation (under 100 words)

• Desired length of presentation (25 minutes or 50 minutes)

• Brief description of the interactive elements of your presentation

• Brief description of the materials you will provide to participants to take home with them from your presentation

If you have any questions about your proposal, please do not hesitate to contact one of us. Information on hotel blocks and workshop registration will be forthcoming. As always, there is no fee to attend this workshop.

We look forward to receiving your proposals!

2024 One-Day Workshop Planning Committee

Toni Miceli, Saint Louis University School of Law

Steven Foster, Oklahoma City University School of Law

Megan Kreminski, University of Illinois Chicago School of Law

Happy Holidays and Enjoy the Break!!

All of us at the Law School Academic Support Blog wish you and your families Happy Holidays! We appreciate you reading our posts.  We also hope you are able to get a break over the next few weeks.  Every year has unique challenges.  I know many of you are working tirelessly to get ready for NextGen. Even in this hectic time, I hope you have a chance to recharge the next couple weeks.

We are taking a break to celebrate the season. We may post sporadically, but regular posting will begin again the week of January 15th.

(The Editors)

A Visit from ASP (with apologies to Clement Moore)

‘Twas the night before finals, and all through the house, only a law student was stirring and clicking a mouse[1];

Casebooks were stacked by the monitor with care, in hopes that the answers were hidden in there;

Most people were already snug in beds, while law students crammed adverse possession into their heads;

Professors and TAs were in for the night, knowing that grading was surely in sight;

The morning of exams would soon appear, and students would file into the test rooms with fear;

One last look at a study aid and search for a sign, perhaps one last perusal of their outline;

They’d sit and pray to the study aid masters, and hope to avoid essay question disasters;

Now Glannon, now Dressler, now Prosser and Keaton, On Erwin[2], on Crunchtime, on Answers and Questions[3]

To the top of the class! to the top of the curve!
Now write away! Write away! Write it with verve!;

On the first question, the students would start, to prove what they learned and that they are smart[4]

Working to IRAC each issue they spotted, students strived not to exceed the time they’re allotted;

After the essays they moved on to the multiple choice, reading the calls of the question and remembering their voice;[5]

The questions were tough from the facts to the answers, but they carefully read the qualifiers[6] and enhancers;

After weeks of studying, with no sleep or gym sessions, they were pale, tired, and lacking expression;

They said not a word as the proctors would scold, and worked hard until all of the test time had tolled;

When told to put their pens down, the students complied, they packed up their highlighters and other supplies;

But I heard them exclaim as they fled down the hall,

“So glad that’s it over, I gave it my all.”

Happy whatever-if anything-you celebrate in this season! I hope that your smaller and greater worlds are filled with peace and joy in the new year.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] Touchpad really doesn’t rhyme with anything…..

[2] With all due respect to Professor Chemerinsky, I could not find anything that rhymed with Chemerinsky either.

[3] Yes, I know I reversed it, but let’s call it artistic license….

[4] Remember, exams do not actually assess intelligence!!! Poetry is a harsh taskmaster.

[5] Remember, you can be a judge, an advocate, or a scholar on MCQs!!!

[6] With thanks to Ashley Cetnar for her MCQ tips last week!

Final Exams & Multiple-Choice Questions

Final exams are in full swing. I met with a student yesterday who was terrified about their next exam because it’s going to be all multiple-choice questions. So often, students put down their ability to solve multiple-choice problems. I hear things like:

“I’m terrible at multiple-choice problems.”

“I’ll never pass an exam if it’s all multiple-choice questions.”

“I get stuck between two answers and ALWAYS pick the wrong one.”

“I fall for the tricks on multiple-choice exams.”

Here are some tips I share with students for improving on multiple-choice questions.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR MULTIPLE-CHOICE EXAMS:

• No matter how you performed on multiple-choice tests in the past, it’s a new day. If properly prepared, you can answer each question correctly!
• Remember that law school multiple-choice questions usually ask you to apply a rule – not just recognize an answer. This means you should approach them with your legal problem-solving skills. Instead of relying on recognizing the right answer, try to identify the rule the question is asking about. Then, apply that rule to the facts. This will lead you to the correct answer.
• Don’t rush. Don’t get stuck. Figure out how much time you can devote to each question and stick to it.
• Carefully read each question and watch out for qualifiers— these are words like all, always, often, most, least.
• If you have it narrowed down to two responses and can’t decide, treat the answers like a true/false problem. Consider if one is completely true, while one is “only true if…” The correct answer is completely true.  
• Don’t make any assumptions or add any facts to the question that aren’t there. This is sure to lead you astray.
• Is the answer mostly right? Then it’s wrong.
• Trust your gut. It’s usually correct.
• Don’t change answers unless you truly misread the question or have another very good reason. Your first answer is usually the right one.
• Keep track of time.

Bonus tip:

You need to practice multiple-choice problems to improve. As you practice, make sure you keep track of WHY you missed the question. Did you misunderstand the rule? Did you read too fast? Did you misapply the rule? Diagnose why are missing questions and use the tips above to create a strategy. Your scores will improve!

(Ashley Cetnar)

Can We Fix It? Yes, We Can!

It is that time of year again. I warned students that the minute they finished digesting their Thanksgiving meal, finals would be upon us. And here they are. Here are my most often dispensed tips for tackling the time before and exams themselves:

1. Make an exam plan: put your exams on your calendar and work back from them to today. Think of the tasks you need to complete between the exam and today: finishing up your outline, reading the completed outline, and doing practice questions (both multiple choice and essay for those classes that will have both). Repeat for every class, including the ones where you have a paper due instead of an exam. Plot a course to finish your course successfully.
2. Engage in active rather than passive studying: reading your outline or casebook or (although ASP folks shudder to say it) a commercial outline over and over is not effective. You need to know the material certainly, but you also have to be able to use it.
3. Practice Building an Answer: I tell students that the law is like the tools on Bob the Builder[1]’s tool belt[2]: you need to have them with you on exams (that would be memorization or in case of an open book exam, careful tabbing of the cases and statutes). But it is not enough to just drag the tools into the exam, you need to know when and how to use them-because the essay exam question is going to be a pile of wood that you need to shape into a sturdy answer. You’ll need to pull the correct law out of your tool belt and apply it correctly to build something that works. You’ll also need to know the sequence of building steps. That is part of what you need to practice before the exam.
4. Prime your pump: take some time to outline your exam answers before you begin writing. I know running out of time on exams can be an issue, but the time taken to make a list, or better yet, a chart, of the issues you have spotted and how you plan to deal with them is worth it. Use this as both a framework and a checklist for writing your answer. This will keep you from straying off into tangents that are a time suck. And, as a bonus, in the event you do run out of time, you can always use what remains of the list to at least tell the grader that you spotted these issues. That can be worth a few points!
5. Self-check your issue spotting: use a pencil or a highlighter to mark facts as you use them in your answer. Most of the facts in your hypo are going to be important, so a large, unmarked area indicates that you have missed an issue.
6. Don’t go shopping without a list on multiple choice questions: much like going to Trader Joe’s hungry and without a shopping list, you will be anxious to find anything good among your choices on a multiple choice question and therefore fill your answer sheet with things you don’t need just because they look tempting. Stop! Don’t be tempted into choosing plausible sounding but incorrect answers as you browse the options. I actually went to Trader Joe’s today to get dog treats. I had no list, so I came home with brie, a tin of cookies, crackers, dish soap, flowers, and dog treats. Don’t be me on your exams. When you look at a multiple choice question,[3]cover the answers, think of the answer in your head and then shop for what is on your mental list among the answers.
7. Practice Multiple Choice questions from more than one source: here is a crazy idea: your professor may not write their own questions. If they don’t (or even if they do), the language on the exam may seem a bit foreign compared to the terminology you used in class. Practicing from many sources will make you fluent in the topic and able to use a larger vocabulary to understand questions and pick correct answers.
8. A little anxiety is okay, but a lot is paralyzing being a little nervous is likely to help you focus and stay on task, but being extremely nervous is likely to stop you in your tracks and take up time you cannot afford to squander. Practice calming strategies as part of your studying. Work with your therapist or any other trusted person (including, always, yourself!) to think of what you will do when you are staring at a question and draw a complete panic inducing blank. Will you move on to another question? Breathe a few times? Remember your mantra (mine was always, “Brain, don’t fail me now!”).
9. Have a list of 5-9 short items in your head: many studies have shown that the ideal number of items to hold in your head is 7 (plus or minus 2).[4] Right before the exam, load your brain with 5-9 things you seem to always miss and as soon as the exam begins, dump those items onto the exam paper (or onto your computer). I always forgot to include defenses, so my list would start there.

I’d love to be able to say that exams are not important, that they don’t mean much in the scheme of life, but that would be condescending and dismissive to say to students, and essentially false. And of course, there are more tips and techniques that I share with students, but that would bring us way over the magic number.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_the_Builder

[2] As much I liked Handy Manny, his tools did the work themselves and therefore this very short-lived show could not provide the exam analogy I needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handy_Manny

[3] This will work for most types of questions, but there will always be some that require you to read all the options. Some examples of these might ask like for a “best argument”, or “all of the following are true except” types of questions…

[4] https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/brain-memory-magic-number/story?id=9189664

The Problem with Outlines

It’s the last day of classes. There is palpable stress in the air that can only be brought on by the collective dread of law school final exams. This time of year, I always seem to reflect on my own 1L fall exams. I remember a string of late nights spent furiously editing outlines. I can also clearly remember thinking to myself, “I’ll never have time to study if I don’t finish these!” Finally, I realized something was wrong with that picture. Isn’t creating a study tool supposed to help you study?

I felt an unbelievable amount of pressure to make outlines for every class.  But the outline structure made it difficult for me to see the hierarchy of concepts, to synthesize the material (to cut an anecdote about a case felt like torture and a word document is endless anyway), or frankly to even review the material in a meaningful way. My strength in learning comes from my ability to see the big picture and make connections back to that structure. Working systematically on an outline each week, when many law classes are not taught with the big picture in mind, was painful. I was behind on my outlines, not because I wasn’t working hard or was procrastinating – I was behind because the process of outlining didn’t work for me. So, I did the unthinkable. I hit delete on all my outlines.

How did I manage to succeed on my final exams after I pressed delete? I created study tools that helped me see the big picture, synthesize rules, and think about how those rules apply to new scenarios. I made the same study tools I used successfully during my undergraduate career. I called them “concept pages.” They were single sheets of paper, each dedicated to a major concept in a class. They were messy with arrows connecting ideas. They also contained clear, concise rule statements and showed how the rules connected. I could make them quickly. They improved my understanding because they acted as a series of capstones on each major concept. They aren’t for everyone, but they worked for me. And that is my point.

Over the years, when students come to me panicked about the state of their outlines (not started, WAY too long, class notes with roman numerals that mean nothing to them, etc.), or crying because they will never finish their outlines in time to study for exams, I start the same conversation. “What if you tried something else? What type of study tool did you make in college? How do you like to organize material? Flow charts? Tables? Maybe something handwritten and messy?” I have seen many students do better in law school when they stop making outlines and start making something else. What would happen if we supported students to make the study tools that work best for them? If we gave them other options from day one? If we talked about creating study tools instead of using “outlining” as a synonym for law school success?

The best study tool to create is one that best organizes the information. For some topics that might be a short, traditional outline. For other topics, a table or flow chart will work better. We should be flexible about study tools because they need to flex around the subject matter and around individual needs. I’ve stopped telling students to outline. Instead, I ask what type of study tools they are working on and how the tools are working for them. Who’s with me?

(Ashley Cetnar)