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notes for exams (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter skynet89
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MichaelJackson2
Moonwalker
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- 2004
open book exams are generally more difficult than closed book exams, the reason of course being that they can't give marks to people for reading their notes, so treat it as though it's closed.
personally, i don't bother with notes because getting the readings done is time consuming itself, let alone typing up notes. what i tend to do is highlight the important parts as i'm doing the readings and then come exam time just skim over the readings and focus on the highlighted parts (if you were to type up notes, you're probably going to just type out the highlighted parts anyway, and personally i don't think there's much point to that if you can just highlight important parts).
don't get too bogged down with the truckload of cases pertaining to any particular principle - one you understand the underlying principle you'll realise that the cases are all just applying the same rule - "We must beware of the pitfall of antiquarianism, and must remember that for our purposes our only interest in the past is for the light it throws upon the present" (Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, 'Path of the Law')
personally, i don't bother with notes because getting the readings done is time consuming itself, let alone typing up notes. what i tend to do is highlight the important parts as i'm doing the readings and then come exam time just skim over the readings and focus on the highlighted parts (if you were to type up notes, you're probably going to just type out the highlighted parts anyway, and personally i don't think there's much point to that if you can just highlight important parts).
don't get too bogged down with the truckload of cases pertaining to any particular principle - one you understand the underlying principle you'll realise that the cases are all just applying the same rule - "We must beware of the pitfall of antiquarianism, and must remember that for our purposes our only interest in the past is for the light it throws upon the present" (Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, 'Path of the Law')
It is definitely recommended that you prepare summaries for law exams. Memorisation isn't essential, as long as you REALLY comprehend all of the principles. I personally find typing summaries to be too time-consuming and unhelpful (because they themselves usually need to be summarised). That's why I write out my summaries by hand in my Unit of Study outline for the subject, forcing me to be very succint. I also have an extra page which *very* broadly outlines the areas of law (in order) that I need to refer to for particular types of questions. That way I know in advance the structure of my response (and hence cover all required principles) and can pace myself during the exam. I still bring my textbooks to the exam, but that's only to reassure myself. Well that's what I do, but really it all depends on what you prefer.
EDIT: 20 pages is a reasonable limit on typed up (final) summaries. I've done 200+ page (draft) summaries in the past, hence why I've stopped doing them.
EDIT: 20 pages is a reasonable limit on typed up (final) summaries. I've done 200+ page (draft) summaries in the past, hence why I've stopped doing them.
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I usually have enormous!! notes (being summaries of all the cases, readings, legislation, practice questions etc) more so for a security blanket than anything, don't really remember actually using these huge notes. But I am one of those people that would rather waste time preparing them, as I remember content better if i have read it and re-typed it out myself, and I don't want to over summarise notes and find that i actually needed them. That whole better to be safe than sorry approach 
The notes that i actually use however are usually about 10 pages per topic for more difficult/complex units, 5 pages or so for the easier/less complex units, very spaced out, large-ish font, all bullet points so it's easier to read quickly. "Theory" style units are much, much less though, i usually have 30 or so pages total as I personally remember theories and history better than I remember details of statutes and cases so in the 'practical' units i do need more notes just in case.
It's more a matter of how your notes are structured and organised than how long they are. Some people do really well with one page per topic, some people do really well with hundreds of pages, it all depends on what makes you comfortable. But i wouldn't recommend at all doing what some people do of bringing in 'essay style' notes, being blocks of text as its too hard to read quickly in an exam.
Also - get your notes bound if you can as I've seen so many people drop their folders or get the pages they had clipped together muddled up and they end up wasting a lot of time trying to re order them or find them - binding avoids that problem. Plus, if you have crappy small desks for the exam its easy to keep it all together on the desk
The notes that i actually use however are usually about 10 pages per topic for more difficult/complex units, 5 pages or so for the easier/less complex units, very spaced out, large-ish font, all bullet points so it's easier to read quickly. "Theory" style units are much, much less though, i usually have 30 or so pages total as I personally remember theories and history better than I remember details of statutes and cases so in the 'practical' units i do need more notes just in case.
It's more a matter of how your notes are structured and organised than how long they are. Some people do really well with one page per topic, some people do really well with hundreds of pages, it all depends on what makes you comfortable. But i wouldn't recommend at all doing what some people do of bringing in 'essay style' notes, being blocks of text as its too hard to read quickly in an exam.
Also - get your notes bound if you can as I've seen so many people drop their folders or get the pages they had clipped together muddled up and they end up wasting a lot of time trying to re order them or find them - binding avoids that problem. Plus, if you have crappy small desks for the exam its easy to keep it all together on the desk
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If you want to have a look at what other students law notes look like...go to www.uninotes.com.au . Some notes are not that great, but others are gold.
I think making a good set of notes is very important in law exams. Personally, I never refer to my textbooks in exams...I rely purely on my notes.In saying that, the style of note making that works for you may be totally different to someone elses.
I tend to make one set of comprehensive notes throughout the semester on (max 50 pg): Thats like a summary of all my classes and readings...Lots of bullet points...and summaries of cases (facts, decision and ratio). I like bullet points alot.
Then I make a "summary of my summary"...(less than 20 pg) which is a set of notes that is structured around how I would answer a legal problem in an exam. So for example, I'd keep defences and remedies to the end of the notes. The headings are usually questions I would ask myself if I was reading a law problem. I insert the ratios of relevant cases under the relevant headings as well as the relevant legislation. I also like to have a mind map in the beginning of my notes which outlines how all the different topics fit together.
Remember to set aside some time to practice using your notes on past papers. You wanna know what page certain topics are on when you are in the exam...so that you can go their quickly.
I think making a good set of notes is very important in law exams. Personally, I never refer to my textbooks in exams...I rely purely on my notes.In saying that, the style of note making that works for you may be totally different to someone elses.
I tend to make one set of comprehensive notes throughout the semester on (max 50 pg): Thats like a summary of all my classes and readings...Lots of bullet points...and summaries of cases (facts, decision and ratio). I like bullet points alot.
Then I make a "summary of my summary"...(less than 20 pg) which is a set of notes that is structured around how I would answer a legal problem in an exam. So for example, I'd keep defences and remedies to the end of the notes. The headings are usually questions I would ask myself if I was reading a law problem. I insert the ratios of relevant cases under the relevant headings as well as the relevant legislation. I also like to have a mind map in the beginning of my notes which outlines how all the different topics fit together.
Remember to set aside some time to practice using your notes on past papers. You wanna know what page certain topics are on when you are in the exam...so that you can go their quickly.