On very rare occasions, I will share with you ideas for teaching that are more radical. This post will be my first such effort. Both ideas I share below reflect approaches to assessment in first-year courses. I offer them because, for some people, the ideas will resonate enough for them to try them out and, for others, the ideas might help them come up with even better ones.

The first idea comes from the most effective law teacher I have ever seen in action, Emeritus Professor Gerry Hess (Gonzaga). About four weeks before the end of Hess’ civil procedure class, he distributed a case file he had created. He told his students that their final exam would be based on the case and materials from this file. He also explained that the exam would include additional information, mostly procedural. The file included information from which Hess could have created dozens of exam questions so, in many ways, the files required students to review most of what he had taught them that semester, including, of course, portions he would not be testing. He even encouraged students to closely review the files with one or more peers and to mark up the documents as they saw fit. On the day of the exam, he gave each student a clean copy of the file and administered a final based on the file and similar to what he had always administered to his civil procedure students. By this approach, he was able to create a much more authentic simulation of what his students would be doing as practicing lawyers.

The second idea is my rip-off of Professor Hess’s idea for my contracts class. About four weeks before the end of my contracts class, I distribute a contract I have created. I tell my students that a substantial part of their final exam will be based on this contract but will include facts relating to what happened after the parties entered into the contract. The contract includes ambiguities, errors, and omissions from which I could draw dozens of exam questions by adding additional facts so, in many ways, the contract requires my students to review most of what I taught taught them that semester, including, of course, portions I will not be testing. (For any readers who teach contracts, I have not figured out how to effectively include formation issues in this way so I have to test those issues separately.) I also encourage my students to work with the contract with one or more peers and to mark it up. On the day of my final exam, I give each student a clean copy of the contract and administer a final similar to what I have always administered to my contracts students. As a result, I am able to eliminate a major flaw in most contracts exams (that they do not include anything close to real contracts) and make my exams more similar to what contracts lawyers do.

I do have one variation. When I teach contracts, I teach students basic drafting principles, and I provide multiple opportunities for students to draft contract clauses and get feedback on their efforts. When I pass out the contract, I tell my students that their final will include a question that requires them to assume the contract is a draft and create a short clause to address a client concern regarding the contract.

I hope that, at the very least, these two ideas are interesting and cause you to ask yourself whether you might emulate them. How might these ideas be used in other courses? I welcome your ideas in the comments.