Using Examinations in First-Year Legal Research, Writing, and Reasoning Courses - Article overview

Sep 2, 2026

Upload by Sarah

Examinations are uncommon in first-year legal research, writing, and reasoning (LRWR) courses, even though many law schools rely on final exams in other subjects. The discussion argues that exams can promote mastery, help instructors differentiate levels of understanding, and increase learning through both preparation and the testing experience. It also addresses why instructors may hesitate to adopt exams in LRWR, then explores reasons for value in using them despite typical objections, including references to real exam questions used in legal writing programs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Examinations have value

Using Examinations in First-Year LegalResearch,Writing,and Reasoning Courses* Douglas Miller** # I.INTRODUCTION Examinations are typically not used in first-year legal re-search,writing,and reasoning(LRWR)courses;there are somelegal writing programs that use them,but these programs ap-pear to be in the minority.¹I thought it might be useful to dis-cuss some of the reasons for this,to identify some of the objec-tions typically put forward to the use of these examinations,andto see whether I could develop some responses to the objections.The discussion proceeds by means of three straightforward pro-positions,but it also includes references to actual exam ques-tions that have been used either in the legal writing program atSouth Texas College of Law,where I teach,or elsewhere.(Ca- *This article,like the others in this issue of Legal Writing,is based on apresentation given at the 1996 Legal Writing conference sponsored by the Legal WritingInstitute.This presentation took place in Seattle on July 20,1996.In preparing thisarticle,I have retained the tone of the original presentation,which was in essence anexhortation for those teaching legal writing,even though I recognize that not all readersof this article will be legal writing teachers.I wish to thank the Legal Writing Institutefor providing a forum for this presentation,and for putting out this special Proceedingsissue.Finally,I wish to thank Diane Edelman,Pamela Lysaght,and David Walter fortheir thoughtful editorial suggestions. **Assistant Professor of.Legal Writing,South Texas College of Law,Houston,Texas;J.D.,Boalt Hall School of Law,University of California at Berkeley,1983;B.A.,University of California at Santa Barbara,1978;admitted to practice in Pennsylvaniaand Alaska.(My colleague Kim Cauthorn of South Texas College of Law was originallyscheduled to participate in the LWI presentation in July,but unfortunately was unableto do so for medical reasons.) 1A decidedly unscientific survey has turned up twelve law schools that use some-thing that could be described as an examination in at least one LRWR course.Thoseschools are the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law,Mercer University LawSchool,Case Western Reserve University Law School,University of South CarolinaSchool of Law,Stetson University College of Law,South Texas College of Law,Chicago-Kent College of Law,University of Mississippi School of Law,Loyola University Schoolof Law(New Orleans),Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center,SaintLouis University School of Law,and Albany Law School.At two other schools(McGeorgeSchool of Law and the University of Cincinnati College of Law),apparently at least oneinstructor currently uses an examination but others do not.See note 4,infra,for moredetail about the examinations used in some of these programs. veat:some of the questions are problematic,and have been in-cluded only for purposes of discussion or illustration.) # II.EXAMINATIONS HAVE VALUE Most law school courses use final examinations.Most under-graduate courses in this country still use examinations.Exami-nations provide a means of ensuring that students who receiveacademic credit for a course have mastered the content of thecourse,and this holds true regardless of whether the content ofthe course is best described as a set of skills,a set of principles,or a body of knowledge.Furthermore,giving an examinationprovides an instructor with a means of distinguishing amongstudents who have attained a bare mastery of the contents ofthe course,students who have attained a complete mastery ofthe contents of the course,and students who fall somewhere inbetween these levels of mastery.Finally,giving an examinationincreases learning in two distinct ways.First,the process of pre-paring for an examination increases learning:instructors whouse examinations can attest that on the day of the examinationthe vast majority of students understand more about the con-tent of the course than these students did

FAQs

Why are examinations not commonly used in first-year LRWR courses?

Many legal writing programs do use exams, but they appear to be in the minority. The discussion focuses on the reasons for this hesitation and the objections typically raised against using exams in LRWR.

What value do examinations provide in law school courses?

Examinations help ensure students have mastered course content, allow instructors to distinguish among levels of mastery, and increase learning through exam preparation and the educational experience of taking the exam.

How do examinations increase learning according to the text?

Preparation increases learning by prompting students to understand more by the exam date. Taking the exam itself also contributes, since students often know more after the exam, whether immediately, after reflection, or through organized review.

Sep 2, 2026

Upload by Sarah