Comments on: Want better student evaluations?

By: Student News Blog

Student News Blog — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 18:05:47 +0000

Man sentenced in traffic deaths of two college students

ST. JOHNS, Mich. A Lansing man has been sentenced to between 15 and 25 years in prison for second-degree murder in the traffic deaths of two college students. Gerardo Garcia was driving the wrong way in the northbound lanes of U-S 127 about three a-m …

By: Miana Lewis

Miana Lewis — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 21:19:53 +0000

WoW!!! nice nice one..hhehe bye later may God be with u.

peace out!

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 08:02:25 +0000

Teaching a large classroom is undeniably public speaking, though many professors seem to think it’s something else. Indeed, certain law professors are regularly invited to debate or give speeches at other law schools. I suspect those same professors receive high student evaluation rankings.

Good public speakers try to have a conversation (pretentiously called a “horizontal dialogue”) with people. People like being talked to, rather than being talked at. I hope no one is surprised by this finding, which applies to other forms of speaking.

Wasn’t it said of John Roberts that as an oral advocate, he didn’t lecture anyone, but instead treated every oral argument as a conversation? And aren’t the best trial lawyers those who, to the extent possible, treat juries like they’re part of the conversation?

Maybe professors would benefit from a course in a public speaking. Maybe the secret to being a good classroom professor is no secret it at all: good professors are just good public speakers.

By: joe

joe — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 06:38:43 +0000

Two things.

1) The worst thing any lecturer can do is start class by saying that we will be ending early, and then proceed to drone on for entire class. If a law professor had clients, he would know it’s all about setting (and meeting) expectations.

2) The Socratic method is bogus and a waste of time, particularly for sophisticated students who already know how to discuss and debate. Maybe it’s useful to scare some unprepared 21-year olds. But that’s about it.

By: Tomas Gomez

Tomas Gomez — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 03:48:59 +0000

Or, when you call on someone who is unprepared, you can use the line one of my professors used to use: “Maybe you should re-read it….or….read it.” Then move on.

By: John Jenkins

John Jenkins — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 00:23:48 +0000

If you really want to improve legal education, when you’ve called on someone who is deeply unprepared and incapable of answering the qestion, don’t waste time torturing them (and the rest of the class). Just move on to someone else who might be able to answer the question. That’s my biggest complaint in law school: when the professor calls on some ass who clearly doesn’t care and will just be happy as a lark with a C- and just bogs everything else down by not going on.