A complete transcript of the SULS panel discussion for assignment technique held in Semester 1, 2020. The panel was moderated by Natalie Leung (SULS Vice President (Education) 2020) and consisted of Professor David Kinley (DK), Professor Simon Rice (SR), Mr Tim Pilkington (TP) and Dasha Moskalenko (DM).
Make sure to check out the 2020 Education Guide at suls.org.au/publications
How much time should I leave to start an assignment?
SR: I believe for many students, it's the reverse. How little time can I get away with? We usually give a long lead time for assignments, so sometimes you’ll have more than half a semester to do it. Give yourself as much time as you can. We’re expecting full intellectual rigorous answers and if you can do that on the weekend beforehand, good, but otherwise give yourself time to work through it.
DM: There are some problem questions that you could probably complete in a couple of days if you’ve learnt the content throughout the semester, but that’s usually not the case. You will want to leave a couple of weeks to start, especially if you haven’t closely followed the content in class.
DK: As soon as you get the essay, don’t just ignore it, read it, because even if you’re not intending to do any work on it right away, at least understand what it is saying and you’ll be amazed at how much things start coming in. That is a way to slowly but surely finding a way to start, rather than just the day before you give it in.
TP: Even with problem questions, I found that as a student, it’s really valuable to take a couple of weeks. You might be able to do an initial draft in a couple of days but to really refine it and to think through the problem, I always found it took much longer than that.
Sounds good! What do you think is the difference between a problem question and an essay assignment?
DM: I look at a problem question exactly as that – you’re applying the law that you’ve been taught in class to a series of facts. I see it more as a practical application of something you would do as a solicitor or writing advice to a client. You get a real-life factual assignment and you’re going through, systematically, the law you’ve learnt and ultimately reaching what you’d advise a client. An essay assignment gives you more freedom in the way you approach it. You want to do a wider reading, formulate a unique thesis or argument, devising your own argument and supporting it with whatever readings you’ve done.
SR: Conceptually, I think they’re drastically different.
TP: The first thing that I look for is that a student understands the law well enough such that they can recognise the issues the facts raise. Students are reasonably good at applying the law to the facts when they understand the law, but the problem is they haven’t understood the law and therefore they either misapply it or miss the issues.
SR: Problem questions use IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion) but the worst thing you can do is approach essay questions with an IRAC state of mind. The essay question is not a problem to be solved through an application of the law. You start from a fundamentally different position.
How much reading should I be doing for each (problem-solving assignments and essay assignments)?
TP: People who get HDs on problem questions have generally read over 90% of the cases and the legislation that are prescribed in the course. If you want to do well, you need to engage with the authorities and the legislation. If you haven’t done that, it’s very rare to get an HD.
DM: There are different types of reading. For problem questions, you’d be looking at case law and legislation, and less likely to be delving into journal articles and books. For essays, you want to be doing as much reading as possible and as widely as possible – reading different journal articles, books, online resources, and if it’s relevant, you’ll be going into case law and statute.
SR: For essays, you’re not given prescribed readings – you’re expected to create your own, starting from wondering and asking “what is this about?”. You need to take the lead from the course readings and then you use your research skills to broaden out and read articles in the footnote references of another article or case. There is no ‘should’ in terms of ‘how many references should I include’. Find material that is relevant and helps you develop a thesis.
DK: The creation of a reading list is dependent on how you decide to answer the question. Almost all essays have a number of ways to approach it. Interrogate the question, stick to answering the question but find your own way of answering the question. The more you interpret the question, the more you’ll be guided as to what you read, and, therefore, you may not follow the same path as other people.
SR: A question could simply be “Is constitutional recognition of indigenous people desirable?” There’s no correct answer for that. You’re going to talk to people, listen to the news and ideas will form. And then you’ll end up formulating an answer to a very very open question.
After we finish the reading and get to the writing, how should I structure a problem question versus how should I structure an essay?
TP: With problem questions, the IRAC formula is generally encouraged, but you don’t need to strictly stick to it. It’s important to draw a conclusion – often students don’t give an answer to a problem. You are often told to advise a client, and you need to tell them your opinion. It’s fine to draw a tentative conclusion, but you still need a conclusion
DM: In problem questions, you’re encouraged to use subheadings and identify the issues in very clear terms.
DK: With essays, as you interrogate the questions and find readings that excite you, that’s how you’re going to structure the essay. At the beginning, you need to have an introduction, what are you going to do, what steps are you going to take to get there, what are you going to conclude, and then follow through with that. You have to think of your word count and recognise your parameters, which dictate the structure you use.
SR: You need to keep in mind what you’re doing – you’re writing for a marker to assess. You need to make sure the marker understands what you’re saying and make sure it’s presented in an accessible way. The harder we have to work to read it, the harder it is for you to do well. You’re trying to impress us with sophistication and knowledge rather than comprehensive. Don’t deal with a new issue every paragraph.
I’m really struggling to begin an assignment, do you have any tips on getting the ball rolling?
DM: For an essay, I try to work out a structure based on what I’ve read and then fill in the gaps with research. For a problem question, print out a copy of the problem question, annotate it and try to identify every issue that arises. You might find more issues as you read back on the cases and notes.
DK: I think you should start writing as soon as you can. Even if it’s a little linkage between a few issues, write it down as soon as possible. You’ll see a pattern and start writing a sentence or two, even if it’s in the middle of an essay. Even if the sentence is not perfect, it’s still a sentence. Sometimes, it’s not at all logical.
Do I need to cite everything I write? What if it’s an original thought?
SR: There’s no need to cite a lot. While the bibliography is everything you’ve been to, what you use in the essay is much more conservative. You need to footnote anything that you found in your research. But for your original thoughts, you can’t cite that, so you just state it confidently.
TP: With respect to problem questions, every proposition of law needs to be cited or footnoted. If it’s a well-established proposition of law, it’s enough to cite one case – citing more cases won’t get you more marks.
SR: Rather than just footnoting what other people say, you need to critically analyse. We need to see there has been some critical exercise to convert what has been read into an argument.
DK: It is important that when you make a statement, you have to support your views. That’s where you bring in the citations.
Should I do all my referencing at the end or should I do it as I write?
DM: I tend to shorthand my references as I go and then come back to the end and fill them out. When you’re researching, you should be noting exactly where you got your information from.
TP: Sometimes you’ll write something and want to come back later to check you’ve understood it – by referencing as you go, it makes it easier.
SR: For academics and people writing PhDs, using referencing software like Endnote to keep records can be helpful.
Do you have any general tips on assignments?
DM: Keep it simple – don’t use flowery language, make sure the sentences are short and clear. Generally, you start early so you can revise things like sentence structure, which can affect the marker’s response.
TP: Avoid using long words and Latin.
SR: If you wouldn’t say it, don’t write it. People will use extraordinarily complex sentences, and they just waste the word count.