Effective Exam Strategies for Law Students: Online Examination Tips and Techniques
Explore expert exam strategies for law students preparing for online exams in session 202030. Learn valuable tips on planning your approach, tackling short answer and problem questions, handling exam mishaps, and gaining insights from past experiences to excel in your assessments.
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Exam Strategies CENTRE FOR LAW & JUSTICE 202030 KIM BAILEY, LISA COATES, HALEY MCEWEN, SIMONE THACKRAY & VANESSA VAZQUEZ
Contents Introduction Online exam considerations for session 202030 Preparing for your exam Planning your approach Short answer questions Problem questions What to do if something goes wrong Learning from experience
Online exams 202030 Simone Thackray
Exams but not as you know them o Downloaded through Interact2 and uploaded through EASTS o Time limited o Exam timetable o Academic integrity 4
Preparing for Exams Vanessa Vazquez
Preparing for Exams Review tutorials, reading and topic guides. Consolidate the material into master notes. Use your own words. Don t copy chunks from legislation/cases or case headnotes. Your notes should: clearly identify elements of legal tests and supporting authorities summarise key cases and when cases have been distinguished. summarise key legislation. Use headings and sub-headings Use tabs, colour-coding and index your notes Annotate your textbook and cross-reference your notes Use study guides Practice with exam conditions of space and time Check your connectivity 6 Vanessa Vazquez
Comprehension and Application your grandmother. You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to Albert Einstein Don t recite notes. You need to critically apply legal concepts to a particular problem. Use IRAC Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion in notes and exam. Master spelling of key words (e.g. appellant, defence, etc.) Use British English spelling Master key concepts (court hierarchy, separation of powers etc.) Learn exam referencing (e.g. annotated case names, Spiegelman CJ etc.) and employ this referencing in your notes
In the Exam Allocate time wisely and plan ahead. Carefully read the question twice and annotate. Always scaffold or plan your answer this is assessable. Organise your writing in a cogently and logically. Use headings, sub-headings and bullet points to structure your writing. Present all the alternative perspectives, supported by authorities. Leave a line between paragraphs and justify your text. Refer to your Legal dictionary Do not copy and paste chunks from any sources be it cases, case head notes or legislation. Quality over quantity.
Planning your approach Lisa Coates
You will have a question booklet and an exam booklet 1. 2. How will you use your technology? You can print the question booklet out as a PDF or view on screen (IPad or 2nd computer/screen) Recommend a separate screen for answer booklet in Word document if you don t print question booklet. SAVE, save, SAVE. Which questions first? 3. 4. 5. 10
Time management- two choices Marco Poloni Defenders of True Artisanship (Web Page) <https://www.marcopoloni.com/SLIPPING-TIME-Melting-Desk- Clock.htm> ProSwimswear The World s Largest Competitive Swim Store (Web Page) <https://www.proswimwear.com.au//fastime-01-red- stop- watch.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw1cX0BRBmEiwAy9tKHmi0LfSboI_T hELVMh88_pIlWO_tRytgJzhR0CFNYhdRsEN5vf5yvBoCjkUQAv D_BwE 11
It doesnt matter what content youve studied if you don t apply basic maths. Time breakdown For example: LAW216 (Property Law) 40% Assessment 100 mark exam If exam is 180 mins = 1.8 mins per mark Value breakdown For example: LAW216 (Property Law) 40% Assessment 100 mark exam If exam is 180 mins = 1.8 mins per mark Section A- (10 Questions, 20 marks. 2 marks per question. Answer in 1-3 sentences at most). Section A= 20 marks or 8% of your grade in the subject Section B= 40 marks/ 16% per each problem question (80 marks total or 32% total of your grade in the subject ) Section A- (10 Questions, 20 marks. 2 marks per question. Answer in 1-3 sentences at most). Section A= 36 mins Section B- answer 2 questions from a choice of 3- each worth 40 marks Section B= 72 mins each or 144 min total 12
Short Answer Questions Haley McEwen
TYPES OF SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS 1. eg. Name three remedies available for a breach of fiduciary duty. Factual asks you to identify, list or define something 2. eg. What is a special disability for the purposes of establishing unconscionable conduct? Interpretive requires an explanation 3. eg. What are the two principal fiduciary obligations? How were these breached in Boardman v Phipps [1967] 2 AC 46? Combined may have two or more parts Source: The University of Adelaide, Short-Answer Exams Writing Centre Learning Guide (Learning Guide) <https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/sites/default/files/docs/learningguide-shortanswerexams.pdf>.
APPROACHING SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS 1. 2. Note the instruction word/s Separate the components Eg. What is the standard of care required of a trustee in carrying out her or his duties and powers? How does it compare to professional trustees? Name a relevant case authority. Underline keywords Plan your answer order the sentences Use SEE or IRAC (if applicable) Contextualise your answer Refer to a relevant legal authority Check grammar and spelling 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Charles Sturt University, Success in Exams (Fact Sheet) < https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/832299/SuccessinExams.pdf>.
USING IRAC IN SHORT ANSWER QNS Issue Rule Application Conclusion (IRAC) - - Focus on the relevant legal issue/principle Identify the correct legislative provision and/or applicable case law - - Apply the law to the factual context Draw a conclusion as opposed to just listing everything LAW314 - Linking assessments to your residential school experience 16
SHORT ANSWER EXAMPLE IRAC MODEL Issue Q: How do Australia and the United Kingdom differ in their recognition of a public interest defence to a breach of confidence? A: In the UK, the public interest defence has statutory force within section 12 (4) of the Human Rights Act 1998 (UK). Australia has no equivalent Human Rights Act and Australian courts are reluctant to apply the public interest defence. For example, in Castrol Australia Pty Ltd v Emtech Associates (1980) 33 ALR 31 Rath J held that breaking a confidence required a more precise and weighty reason than a public interest in truth being told. Hence, Australian courts have not gone as far as the UK in recognising the public interest as a general defence to a breach of confidence. Rule Application Conclusion
IF ALL ELSE FAILS If you run out of time: read the question carefully list the key principles that are relevant add the authority/ies apply what relevant facts you do know
Problem Questions Kim Bailey
Exam problem questions before the exam Usually are the weightiest part of the paper- go in with allocated time It s normal to go blank! Have a list of topic issues you are expecting and use these to order your notes. You cannot read anything for the first time in the exam so do the work! Practice, practice, practice and ask for feedback or try before the tutes.
Exam Problem Question Dos: DO: Use reading time to spot the issues so you can choose which is your best question. Then number the issues to construct a plan. Brainstorm if a principle or case comes to mind, write it down! Take time to plan your answer (mindmap, highlight etc). Use headings and order these logically (usually chronologically). Use IRAC to work through each issue. Each issue raises a legal principle. ie: Raise the problem that you see, explain the principle that applies and how the law will affect the outcome. Begin with a short and clear introduction that raises all of the issues you see in the problem. Express your issues as questions to be answered. Engage with the facts, and connect the facts to the law. Weight your answer to the big issues. Work both sides. Use authority precisely not generally.
Exam Problem Question do nots: DO NOT: Scatter gun your answer take a moment to plan your answer. Repeat sections of legislation. Catalogue cases (facts, held etc). Cite cases without applying them. Use secondary authority to support an assertion of law (eg: your text book). Tell me whole areas of law that are inapplicable. Wander in your answer just stick to what the issues are. Invent new facts or hypothesise (ie: if the problem does not say it, don t try and solve it). Fail to give a clear conclusion. Panic (!)
What to do if things go wrong Simone Thackray
What do I do if things go wrong? Such as: o I don t know the content o I m running out of time o I have had computer difficulties 24
What if things really, really go wrong o Before exam apply for supplementary exam via special consideration system o https://apps.csu.edu.au/specialcons/ o During exam apply for supplementary exam WITHIN 3 DAYS for misadventure if you meet this policy: Misadventure and Extenuating Circumstances (6) As a general guide misadventure or extenuating circumstances are circumstances which: a. are beyond the student's control (i.e. they could not have reasonably been anticipated, avoided or guarded against); b. are sufficiently grave or of a nature or duration to have caused considerable disruption to the student's capacity to study effectively or to complete subject requirements; and c. have interfered with the otherwise satisfactory fulfilment of the subject requirements. 25
Our best and worst exam experiences The Panel
References Charles Sturt University, Success in Exams (Fact Sheet) < https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/832299/SuccessinExams.pdf>. The University of Adelaide, Short-Answer Exams Writing Centre Learning Guide (Learning Guide) <https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/sites/default/files/docs/learningguide- shortanswerexams.pdf>. Images Marco Poloni Defenders of True Artisanship (Web Page) <https://www.marcopoloni.com/SLIPPING- TIME-Melting-Desk-Clock.htm> ProSwimswear The World s Largest Competitive Swim Store (Web Page) <https://www.proswimwear.com.au//fastime-01-red-stop- watch.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw1cX0BRBmEiwAy9tKHmi0LfSboI_ThELVMh88_pIlWO_tRytgJzhR0CFNY hdRsEN5vf5yvBoCjkUQAvD_BwE
