Graded Problem Sets and the Expectations of Law Students

Abstraction: Weekly graded coding problem sets disrupt law students' study expectations

Key points:

• Course assigns weekly graded programming problem sets as the primary (only) assessment; no final exam; grade based entirely on problem-set completion
• Three ways problem sets disrupt law students: (1) there is always a correct answer — unlike law's "argue both sides" model; (2) time required is unpredictable — might take 2x or 0.5x the expected duration; (3) problems often require stepping away and returning rather than a single sitting
• The most common student mistake is planning to complete the problem set in one sitting the day before it is due
• Office hours provided 14 hours/week with professors or TAs; Piazza used for peer help (strict no-collaboration policy)
• One problem assigned before add/drop date so students can experience difficulty before committing
• Authors argue: learning to program requires actually solving hard problems, not just following tutorials

Connections: Programming Education · Active Learning

Source: https://cp4l.org/post/problem-sets/