Well, if there was any question about the seriousness of my Contracts professor's approach to teaching it was cleared up this last class meeting. In what was almost a Paper Chase moment, one of my classmates was humiliated in front of our class of approximately 67. Not to say that he couldn't have prevented it, but it was hard to witness. The interaction in the law school classroom follows the Socratic Method, which has been proven to be a very efficient way to either improve understanding, or highlight misunderstanding (and unpreparedness). This interaction was an extreme exhibition of the latter. My classmate, who was called on at random by the professor, did a fair job of outlining the details of a case that was supposed to be read, understood, and briefed. However, when the more focused questions began so did the crumbling. The interaction was becoming "painful," in the words of our professor. What followed was pretty embarrassing: "Mr. X, where is your brief? Mr. X I can tell that you have read this case, but I don't think that your are adequately prepared, and it is not fair to your classmates. Now, I'm not going to count you absent today, but I will be calling on you again in the future. Please see me after class."
It it class policy that if you are not prepared you will be counted absent and called on again in subsequent classes, if you are not prepared a second time you will be asked to leave. Now, if you are called on and were prepared you are free for the rest of the course. Needless to say I will be re-reading everything before class.
It it class policy that if you are not prepared you will be counted absent and called on again in subsequent classes, if you are not prepared a second time you will be asked to leave. Now, if you are called on and were prepared you are free for the rest of the course. Needless to say I will be re-reading everything before class.
0 comments:
Post a Comment