With another semester of exams behind us (and another set waiting for us in May), this column surveys several variations of the final exam, analyzing some benefits and pitfalls of each. The categories surveyed include open note vs. closed exams, broad and narrow calls of the question, exams implementing a maximum word count, and multiple choice vs. essay questions.
Open or Closed
Having access to one’s notes alleviates test-day anxiety, allowing law students to submit much more refined and polished answers. Being able to focus on application of the law rather than rote memorization is arguably more reflective of legal practice and a more important skill to hone. This advantage of open exams also reveals their biggest drawback: everyone shares the advantages, leading to a much more competitive curve.
More traditional, closed-book exams require a much higher degree of memorization in addition to application skills. It can be argued that in-person exams are more effective because they test not just substantive mastery of the material, but the ability to apply it under pressure, as the profession may often demand. Perhaps the strongest argument against closed-book exams is memorization is not, by itself, a requisite skill for practicing law. After all, one’s notes and research are readily available for review most times.
Call of the Question: Narrow or Broad
Beginning with Jump Start, CSU Law students are reminded to read the call of the question first on an exam. The end of a fact pattern might read: “analyze whether A will succeed on a motion to dismiss B’s claim for battery” or (*shudder*) “analyze all relevant legal issues.” Broad and narrow calls of the question serve distinct interests and accomplish distinct goals.
A broad call of the question encourages effective issue spotting, but also allows for wandering answers. A professor may present two key issues for analysis in a single fact pattern, seeking a narrow path of analysis in a maze of possibilities. Broad questions allow professors to keep their hands hidden, requiring students to identify the relevant issues, in addition to applying law to fact and fact to law.
A narrow question helps students understand what is being asked, and reduces the risk of verbose answers riddled with as many memorized rules as possible. However, narrow calls of the question can trick the overeager reader. An exam taker too prepared to do a full five element analysis of negligence may miss that the question asked only for an analysis of breach.
Word Count or No Word Count:
The word count can be quite the equipoise. Where a narrow question is a substantive guardrail against wandering to irrelevant topics, the word count is a procedural one. Like a narrow question, a lower word count enables professors to prioritize addressable issues while eliminating the potential to waste words on unnecessary rule regurgitation. Allocating 800 words to a question allows a professor to establish the adequate length for a response while preventing purposeless point-grabbing.
The biggest flaw with word counts, naturally, is how much they require to be excluded. A semester of doctrines, concepts, and exceptions should arguably not be subject to the confines of a word limit. Word counts may restrict the analytical depth and nuance for which any given fact pattern calls. But they work.
Multiple Choice or Essays:
Both multiple choice questions and essays have their place on the MBE, so it’s natural that exams might include either, or both.
Multiple choice questions challenge a student to carefully pick from a pool of up to four right answers, but only one “most” right. This challenges a student to balance arguments, identify weaknesses, and select (rather than generate) the best response. An arguable drawback of multiple choice questions is that the answer is on the page. As far as evaluation goes, a lucky guess is identical to flawless process of elimination. A point is a point.
Essays, on the other hand, even those with narrow calls of the question, require a level of recall and rule memorization that is more demanding than multiple choice questions. Where a multiple choice question grades whether the correct listed answer was selected, the IRAC rubric assigns
value to issue identification, rule restatements, and adequacy of analysis.
For better or worse, exams are as unique as the professors writing them and vary as widely as the subject matter they cover. Regardless of any exam’s given format, the best way to prepare is early.
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