Have you ever compared your essay to a sample answer, or one with a higher grade, and wondered what was different about yours? Especially if you seemed to use all the correct law? It's likely that you aren't using your facts enough! This lesson will explain why it's important that you use your facts, as well as help you to do just that!
Read moreThis lesson explores one of the fundamental lawyering skills, which is self assessment. This lesson looks at how to learn from success and failures. Primarily, it focuses on what to do after a quiz, midterm, or final exam, and how to continue learning from those assessments.
Read moreThis lesson explains some key differences between legal writing and exam writing. First, the lesson demonstrates the relationship between legal writing and exam writing. Next, the lesson explains the differences between legal writing and exam writing. After you complete this lesson you will be able to transfer writing and analysis skills learned in your legal writing course to your final exams.
Read moreThroughout law school, students will be asked to assess their own essays by comparing them to a model or sample student answer provided by their professor. It can often be difficult to distinguish one’s work from the model. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish what a student knows, from what they wrote down. Experienced legal writers understand that subtle differentiation in language changes the meaning of what was written. This lesson will provide students with strategies for self-assessment, so that they can become critical judges of their work, and consequently precise legal writers.
Read moreOne of the best ways to learn and remember something is to connect it to something that you already know. Once you have made that connection, it becomes easier to use the new information, because you are connecting it to something that you already understand. Making these connections is called transfer. You can transfer vertically (i.e. from one topic in criminal law to another, or from Contracts 1 to Contracts 2), or you can transfer horizontally from course to course (i.e. from contracts to criminal law).
Read moreThis lesson explores one of the fundamental lawyering skills, which is to be able to spot issues. This lesson looks at what an issue is, and best practices in spotting them in cases, with clients, and on exams. Students will go through basic issue spotting exercises to better prepare for exams.
Read moreThis lesson helps students understand where cases fit in a final exam answer and develop arguments based on cases. Students' exam arguments should improve using this lesson's techniques. This lesson also includes video commentary from the author that expands on the material in the lesson.
Read moreThis lesson teaches you how to select the right answer in a multiple-choice question by better understanding how to identify wrong answers, based on nine specific types of wrong answers.
Read moreThis lesson will teach you the best ways to prepare for exams, and the best ways to organize your response on the day of your exam.
Read moreCreating Study Aids is part of the Academic Support series of CALI Lessons. This lesson introduces you to law school study aids. It begins with a brief overview of self-regulated learning and Bloom's learning taxonomy. Then, the lesson introduces law school study aids by pairing them with learning objectives at each level of the taxonomy. Finally, the lesson concludes with an activity designed to help you reflect on your learning. It can be used as an introduction, supplement, or as review.
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