I have heard of CP for law and had a few questions;
1. How big are these classes?
2. What are the discussions about?
3. How much do you need to contribute?
4. I am a bit introverted, so how do you think of something intelligent to put forward when you really can't think of something worthwhile that won't make you sound unintelligent or dumb? Because you get marked on your involvement, so is it better to say something stupid, or minor then nothing at all?
5. Any tips, advice or other information?
6. oh and what classes/ units is CP involved
7. What's the weighting?
I'm studying law this year and just wanted a headsup of what is required and what it's like
1. Depends on the university and the subject.
You either have the:
Lecture (massive class size) and tutorial combo (20-30 students)
OR
2 weekly seminars (20-30 students) (e.g. UNSW)
2. You'll discuss readings in tutorials/seminars and some lecturers/tutors/seminar leaders may go beyond the readings (yet staying within the topic) if there is time.
3. Depends on what marks you're aiming for. CP at most universities and for most subjects tend to be around 10-20% so it's a significant portion of your overall subject mark. I think a majority of students probably contribute 0-3 times per lesson (in a 2 hour seminar) - a minority will be raising their hands more often. That being said, quality is definitely more important than quantity.
If your class doesn't have too many keen students, quantity will definitely allow you to get a good CP mark (i.e. distinction or above). If your class is a keen bunch, quality will matter.
By the way, class participation isn't strictly limited to answering questions. It can also involve asking INSIGHTFUL questions and building on your classmate's answers.
4. I'm probably on the introverted side myself, but you get used to raising your hands up and answering. I think the best thing to do when you first start off is to make case summaries (as part of your preparation) and when a lecturer/tutor/seminar leader asks for facts, ratio/principle and the court's decision, just recite the material facts, ratio/principle and decision for them (if they pick you). When you build more confidence, then you might want to answer the more complex discussion questions - i.e. ones where you can't just regurgitate stuff from the textbook.
To be honest, I think it's better to say something better than nothing (but be sensible with this - lecturers can tell if you've done your readings or not through your answers at times). Not all discussion questions will be complex discussion questions so there should be room for you to make easier contributions. Seriously, don't worry about sounding 'unintelligent'.
Also, in regards to CP, asking questions after class or via email with your lecturer does not count as CP (anything outside of class tends to be excluded from CP) but it could put you a positive light (this means you could get noticed more, they remember your name, etc.).
6. Depends but for most subjects, there should be a CP component. At UNSW, for example, all your classes will be seminars basically so CP will always be there.
7. Generally 10-20% for CP as mentioned previously.
Also, if you ever find yourself struggling with readings for subjects with heaps of cases, I highly recommend grabbing notes/case summaries from older students (or if you're rich, buying those case summary books). It really helps you understand the cases and if you haven't done your readings, you could quickly skim through them before class and grab some CP.
