Socratic Method

I had always heard that law professors principally use the Socratic Method in classroom settings. I only had a cursory (at best) understanding of what was meant by ‘Socratic Method.’ I saw law school as a forum for learning laws, studying cases, and doing legal research. I never really considered how a teaching method could significantly influence the attainment of those objectives and, thus, didn’t spend more than two seconds learning more about the Socratic Method. It meant nothing to me—I had no opinion of it nor any prognostic vision of how it would work in a classroom setting.

After a week or so of school, I have become a huge proponent the Socratic Method in classroom settings. It basically teaches students by asking a series of questions seeking to expose contradictions. In essence, it helps students to identify wholes in logic, thought, arguments, etc. by means of critical thinking.

In law school, the professor “cold calls” a student and has a discussion about a particular statute, procedural rule, or case. The professor simply asks numerous questions about the issues, the ruling, the rationale, dissenting opinion, assumed assumptions, application of the law to specific cases, consistency (or lack thereof) in the interpretation of laws, etc. It is hard. It takes so much more than an understanding of facts to get through one of these sessions. Professors do not let you off the hook if you can’t think through an issue—the whole class is put on pause until you can work through the question.

I love this style of teaching because, I think, it accelerates the learning process SO much. First of all, you have to be prepared for class or else you’ll look like an idiot for 15 minutes in front of everybody. Never have I prepared so meticulously for classes (and yet, there are so many angles that I never even think of that are exposed in class). Second, it forces you to remain attentive during class. Third (maybe a corollary to two), you put yourself in the shoes of the person on the hot seat and see how you would respond in the situation. Fourth, it makes you think on your feet. Fifth, it allows you to develop arguments and presents a forum for presenting them.

I really wish that my undergrad and even high school classes had employed principles of the Socratic Method for the reasons listed above. I really think that I would have learned and retained much more.

P.S. Another great thing about law school is the law library. Unbelievable. While it pales in comparison to BYU’s main library, Oregon’s Law library is a spacious, 4 story library, with (among countless other legal resources) actual attorneys who work as the librarians. And print jobs are $0.01. That’s one cent per job. I compiled a bunch of cases into one document yesterday; 150 pages=one cent.

Why Political Science?

People tend to have a laundry list of questions ready to ask whenever meeting new people. I don't blame them for asking these questions--I do it too--though it often leaves an unmemorable, rote conversation as a first impression.

Frequently, one of the initial questions asked of me is "What are you studying?" or "What did you study at BYU?" I always hesitate to answer this question because I believe (mistakenly or otherwise) that there is a stigma attached to poli sci majors. By saying that I study(ied) political science I feel that people develop an image of me as 'political science guy'--a flamboyant, obnoxiously opinionated, loud, and sometimes holier-than-thou follower of politics.

The conversation would then shift to deeper questions, like "Where are you from?" or "If you could be any head of a three headed squirrel, which would it be?" I would always let it progress to the next question on the list without quenching my desire to say, "Yes, I study political science but I'm not 'political science guy'."

One of the reasons I studied political science was because of the "low hanging fruits" it offers. There are so many research questions that nobody has ever spent time exploring. Almost every topic has avenues that have yet to be studied.

I offer one example to illustrate the point. There has been tons of research done (with various conclusions) on the impact of partisan pressures on congressional behavior. Some scholars maintain that the partisan influence on legislators is negligible because party is merely an element of the preferences of members of Congress upon entering office. That is, legislators are driven primarily by personal and constituent opinions--members of Congress of opposing parties tend to act differently not because of partisan pressures but because these opinions are different. A competing group of scholars assert that partisan pressures are real and significant in shaping the behavior of legislators. The "low hanging fruit" in this example is to analyze the partisan influence on members of Congress in differing stages of their political careers. It's not necessarily 'do parties matter' but rather 'for whom do parties matter.' Do higher office seekers need the support of their party more than other congressmen and are, therefore, more influenced by partisan pressures? Have retiring members of Congress completely dissolved the partisan link? What about newly-elected legislators? etc.

These questions aren't necessarily hard to come up with either. Jason's Mechanized Creativity entry can be applied to creating a research question (items on the list being democracy level, corruption, gdp, etc.). I find the resultant questions very interesting. The amount of research yet to be undertaken is one of the reasons I studied political science.

I don't know why this has been on my mind nor do I know why I posted it. To those who have read this whole post: I apologize if your eyes are glazed over out of boredom. I think that's why I never took the conversation described above in this direction. I mean, who really wants to hear about political science research questions? Instead, I would stick to the meaningful get-to-know you conversation: "I would definitely want to be the middle head of the squirrel and let me tell you why..."

Scratching my Head

I was listening to the radio on the way into work today enjoying country music--a great way to start off any day. The station that I was listening to needed to break for commercials and I left the radio untouched rather than switch to another station. I heard a commercial that struck me as both annoying and ironic. Although I don't remember the words verbatim, it basically unfolded as follows.

Little Girl: "Daddy, what are you doing?"

Dad: "I'm reading about my investments."

Little Girl: "What's an investment?"

Dad: "An Investment is like owning small part of a company. Mine are going up; that's good."

Little Girl: "How do you know what companies to invest in?"

Dad: "Because like you, I do my homework."

Little Girl: "So would you say sending me to Challenger School was a good investment?"

Dad: "Yes, that was a great investment."

The commercial then proceeded to inform listeners of the benefits of sending children to Challenger School over public schools.

I found it odd because I have no idea how that little could conclude that sending her to Challenger School was a good investment given the definition of investment proposed by her father. To the little girl, an investment is simply owning a small piece of a company yet she reasoned that going to school somehow fell under that umbrella. Either Challenger School is doing wonders for that little girl enabling her to make that jump or Challenger School needs to rethink the logic in its commercials (not good when the product offered is an alleged unmatched education).

Inaugural Entry

Consider this the grand opening of my blog (even if it's not so grand). Never thought I'd be a blogger, but here I am. I am doing this--in large part--because of Jason Bell. Though I never saw myself doing this, he pointed out many of the merits of doing so. I mostly just want to keep in touch with old roommates and friends. This provides a way to write what is on my mind, and--by reading and making sarcastic comments on their blogs--I'll be able keep up-to-date on their lives.

I don't really know what I will post here. I'm sure it will mostly be thoughts about sports, school, people, and random events/ideas. Read it if you want. Skip it if you want. Let me know if it is boring you to tears.