BY AMY L. JARMON
A word to the wise
about study aids
the bookstore and counted
the number of study aids
available? Without a plan,
AVEcan
YOUquickly
EVER STOOD
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you
spend an
enormous amount of money.
Do you really need to buy commercial study aids? Consider several
points as you answer this question. First,
realize that study aids are merely aids.
You still need to do the work if you are to
learn the critical skills of reading and
briefing cases, understanding legal reasoning, discerning issues and the rules that
relate to those issues, developing course outlines, and
applying your knowledge to
legal problems.
Second, remember it is
your professor who will be
grading you. You must use
your professor's terms, rule
statements, and steps of
analysis instead of those in
a study aid. Skip chapters
that don't match your professor's topics for the
course. If your professor
recommends
particular
study aids, she's indicating
that those aids should help
you do well in the course.
Third, understand that
commercial study aids can
be wrong. The law may
have changed since publication. The author may not be an expert in the area of
law. The answer to a practice problem
may be incomplete.
Some law professors who excelled in
law school without study aids tell students not to use study aids. However,
even after working very hard, many law
students need to refer to study aids. (The
quality of study aids has improved significantly since many law professors
graduated because many study aids are
now written by legal experts.)
How do you match a study aid to
your specific needs? Three main categories of study aids exist: commentaries
H
14 I STUDENT LAWYER I September2008
on the law, practice questions, and
"canned" briefs. One study aid may combine categories.
Commentaries come in many formats:
hornbooks, short overviews of a topic,
outline series, audio series, graphic organizers, introductions to legal topics, and
other variations. Commentaries differ as
to the breadth and depth of the material,
author's reputation, inclusion of graphics, and readability of the material. Practice-question books vary on the format of
the questions, quality of the model answers or answer explanations, and difficulty of the questions. Finally, canned
briefs differ as to the relevant casebook,
author's credentials, depth of the analysis, and accuracy of the analysis.
Select a commentary for a particular
topic for (1)a preview or a summary, (2)
greater clarification, or (3) rule statements and legal principles. Select questions to test (1)recognition of material, (2)
recall of material, or (3)application of the
law to new fact scenarios.
It's best to use commentary and question study aids throughout the entire semester. At the end of each topic, decide
whether you need to read a supplement
for deeper understanding of the material.
Practice your application of the concepts
once you are satisfied with your level of
learning. Increase the difficulty of the
questions as you become more adept at
dealing with the nuances in the material.
Several cautions about canned briefs
are in order. Using canned briefs to avoid
reading and briefing the assigned cases
is unwise. You won't gain sufficient skill
in legal analysis to understand the case
fully (even if you can recite the facts and
law). You will be ill prepared for the professor's questions in class. Also, the
canned brief may not focus on the same
aspects that your professor will discuss.
Some professors actually know which
canned briefs are wrong for their courses,
but you won't know until you have recited
it in class.
How many study aids do you
need to buy for each course? You
may not need to buy any commentaries if
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you understand everything in your reading and classes. However most law students need to buy one commentary for
each course. Reading three commentaries for the same course is usually inefficient because of repetitive material. If
you're still confused after reading the
first commentary, talk to your professor
to resolve your questions.
Everyone should do practice questions. The best source for practice questions is your professor-make sure you
when we process material ourselves.
Making some of your own study aids
will help in that processing: case briefs,
outlines, flashcards, flowcharts and other
graphics, and mnemonics.
You can change up the facts in a professor's question and reconsider it. You and a
classmate can write practice questions to
swap-you'll learn from designing the
question and your friend's critiquing of
your question and model answer.
Remember that your professors,
Using canned briefs to avoid reading and
briefing the assigned cases isunwise.
do all questions provided for the course.
Rework those questions as a review.
Then, change up the fact scenarios. For
additional practice questions, select one
question book as a supplement.
When buying commentaries, you
should consider (1)your learning styles,
(2)the professor's course syllabus, (3) the
book's edition, (4) the author's credentials,
and (5)your budget. For practice-question books, consider these same five criteria as well as (1)the question formats on
your professor's exams, (2)the formats of
the essay model answers or the multiplechoice answer explanations, and (3)the
ease of choosing questions by topic within the volume.
Are there ways to save money
on study aids? Absolutely! Research
confirms that we learn at a deeper level
teaching assistants, and classmates are
human study aids. Ask questions. Explain material and ask for feedback. Set
up a study group to quiz each other on
rules or answers to practice questions.
Ask professors or teaching assistants to
review several of your written answers
to practice questions.
Many law schools subscribe to The
Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) for their exercises or
provide other resources that students can
use without charge. The law school library or academic success office may
have study aids for short-term loan to
"test-drive" before you buy a copy or to
supplement your purchases.
Compare prices online and at several
bookstores. Buy a used copy of the current edition if it has minimal highlights
16 I STUDENT LAWYER I September 2008
and margin notes (too many may confuse
rather than help you). Upper-division students may loan their old study aids to
you or at least charge less than retailers.
Should you buy any electronic
"organizer" products? Several companies have developed software to assist
law students in organizing their briefs,
class notes, outlines, and other electronic
resources. There are also software products for desktop reminders to complete
tasks, highlighted text conversion to electronic format, and creation of flowcharts.
Ask several questions when you are
evaluating these products. Does the product promote your actual learning or just
your avoiding work through canned material? Does the product provide more efficient and effective work strategies than
you're currently using? Do the product's
work strategies match your own learning styles? Does the company provide a
free demonstration or allow a free trial
period? Do you know other law students
who use the product and can provide you
with critiques? Do you need to compare
several competing products before you
buy? Will you use the product often
enough to justify the cost?
Study aids can be a boon to a law student's existence when used wisely. However, random selection can be financially
costly as well as ineffective. 1.
Amy L.Jarmon (amy.jarmon@ttu.edu), assistant dean for academic success programs
at Texas Tech University School of Law, isa
professor and coeditor of the Law School
Academic Support Blog. She has practiced
law inthe United States and the United
Kingdom.
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