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Introduction to Reading in Law School

Introduction to Reading in Law School. Ante-Law School Camp session 2 “ Thinking About Thinking”. The Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Cycle*. How Humans Learn*. Cognitivism

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Introduction to Reading in Law School

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  1. Introduction to Reading in Law School Ante-Law School Camp session 2 “Thinking About Thinking”

  2. The Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Cycle*

  3. How Humans Learn* • Cognitivism • “[Learning] is the active storage of information or the processes of performing a skill in a student’s long-term memory in an organized, meaningful and useable manner.” • Working memory • Long-term memory • Automaticity • Schema Theory

  4. How Humans Learn (cont’d)

  5. How Humans Learn (cont’d) • Constructivism • “[Learning] is created by each individual from her experience.” • Developing Personal Interpretations • “Cooperative Learning Groups” • Know how to work together • Subdue ego in service of the goal of obtaining the best results possible • Develop “positive interdependence” • Develop “accountability”

  6. Take Home Points • Encoding new learning requires active effort on your part • Become an expert at various techniques for encoding new learning • Draw analogies between what you are learning and what you already know • Organize your learning so it can be readily stored in a schema • Engage in “deep processing” to develop automaticity in skills and knowledge recall • Encode learning in multiple ways to facilitate recall • Make learning experiences personally meaningful • Mimic or connect with real world applications of what you are learning • Consider participating in study groups even if you have past bad experiences with group work

  7. Logic for Lawyers: A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking “We must follow a thinking process that emancipates us from impulsively jumping to conclusions, or frees us from argument supported only by strongly felt emotions or superstitions.” ~Ruggero J. Aldisert

  8. Deductive Reasoning • From the relationship of two propositions to each other, a third proposition follows. (From the general to the particular). • Most people associate deductive reasoning with the syllogism. • A discourse in which, certain things being stated, something other than what is stated follows of necessity from their being so. • All men are mortal. • Socrates is a man. • Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

  9. Syllogistic application of a legal rule Major Premise (Rule): People who drive more than 25 mph above the speed limit are criminally negligent. Minor Premise (Fact at hand): The defendant drove more than 25 mph above the speed limit. Conclusion: Therefore, the defendant is criminally negligent.

  10. Enthymemes • Stacking a series of syllogisms to create a larger argument • Many rules of law consist of multiple “elements” which must be met in order to trigger application of the rule • Conjunctive Rules (AND) – all elements must be met • Disjunctive Rules (OR) –either element must be met • Other forms that will be discussed in future sessions or your Legal Research and Writing class

  11. Inductive Reasoning • Moving from the particular to the general or from the particular to the particular • Adam is a man and Adam is mortal. • Moses is a man and Moses is mortal. • Tiberius is a man and Tiberius is mortal. • George Washington is a man and George Washington is mortal. • John Marshall is a man and John Marshall is mortal. • Therefore, all men are mortal.

  12. Inductive Reasoning as an advocate • Look to see how a legal rule has actually been applied (not articulated, but actually applied) in many other cases. • Observing and articulating the difference between the words used by a court and the actions it has actually take • Observing and articulating when the court abandons the bare words of a rule in favor of the underlying principles the rule is designed to protect • Observing and articulating the broad and narrow implications of the law

  13. Analogy • A proper analogy should identify the number of respect in which the compared cases, or fact scenarios, resemble on another (positive analogies) and the number of respects in which they differ (negative analogies).

  14. Expert Reading (EMPOWER) • Engage with Energy; • Monitor your reading and read for the Main Idea; • Always (always) read with a Purpose; • Get Oriented (before you start) and “Own” your prior knowledge and experience; • Identify the “Five Ws” (Who, What, When, Where, and Why) • Evaluate what you’ve read; and • Review, Rephrase and Record

  15. References for this week’s program • Reading Like a Lawyer by Ruth Ann McKinney • Logic for Lawyers: A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking by Ruggero J. Aldisert • Expert Learning for Law Students by Michael Hunter Schwartz

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