Teaching Through the Pandemic - Part IX: Students Teaching Themselves, Each Other, and Us

On Friday night, I finished five days of group oral midterm exam appointments with my Business Associations students.  (I wrote a law review article on these group oral midterms five years ago, in case you are interested in background and general information.)  It is an exhausting week: twenty-one 90-minute meetings with groups of three students based on a specific set of facts.  And this year, of course, the examinations were hosted on Zoom, like everything else.  Especially given social distancing, mask-wearing, and the overall hybrid instructional method for the course (about which I wrote here), I admit that I headed into the week a bit concerned about how it all would go . . . .

The examination is conducted as a simulated meeting of lawyers in the same law office--three junior lawyers assisting in preparing a senior colleague for a meeting with a new client.  The student teams are graded on their identification and use of the applicable substantive law. I was pleased to find that the teams scored at least as well overall and individually as they typically do.  That was a major relief.  I had truly wondered whether students would be less well prepared in light of the mixed class format and the general distractions of the pandemic.  The students were, however, well prepared.  It was clear each student had achieved individual mastery of a good chunk of the course substance.   It also was clear that, in preparing for and taking the examination as a group, the students had expanded their base of knowledge.  Several teams were so well versed that they were able to point out--in a collegial manner--an error in one of my teaching materials, which I since have corrected.

But what really wowed me were the intangibles.  Each team was earnest and focused during the entire examination meeting.  I was awed by the dedication and diligence of my students in executing on a group oral examination in this unusual and stressful pandemic.  Moreover, team members uniformly treated each other with respect, courtesy, patience, and compassion.  In the end, it was one of the best teaching experiences I have had in over twenty years as a law professor.  I could not be more grateful for the work that my students put into studying for and carrying through on the examination, and I am highly motivated to work with them to cover the remaining material in the course (more on corporations!) in the weeks to come.

Although I undoubtedly need additional time to reflect on the exams more deeply (and I am committed to undertake that deeper reflection before I share more comprehensive observations at the Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting in January), I am extremely pleased with the overall results of these virtual group oral examinations in meeting my teaching and learning objectives for the course.  Icing on the cake?  Two students (on separate examination teams) thanked me for the exam before leaving the examination Zoom meeting, and a third student, in communicating with me on another matter over the weekend, noted in passing: "I actually enjoyed the midterm and thought it worked really well on zoom and was a great format to get to know the material and other students especially with the circumstances this semester!"  If the examination format was able to overcome some of the social and mental isolation so many of us have been feeling over the course of the semester, that certainly is a surprise bonus.  As we all know, we learn from our students every day . . . .

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that one team went out of its way to show that its members were "in role" for the examination as a simulation exercise.  They created their own custom law firm logo Zoom background (based on the firm name--my name plus that of my intellectual property law colleague, Gary Pulsinelli--set forth at the top of the memo I sent to them that included the facts for use in the examination).  It was a hoot!  I have included a screenshot below.  This definitely put a smile on my face!