Law School Discussion

Quote

onverting to a CBT version would cost Jeffort both time and money--and consequently, he would argue against changing the test even if he truly believed it was beneficial to test-takers

You're attacking Jeffort's motivations rather than the substance of his argument. -1

I teach LSAT, GMAT, and GRE for a living.  GMAT and GRE are both CATs and we get around buying computers by making students use their own machines with our online tests--there is little to no marginal cost to allow another student to take a test.  Our LSAT courses cost MUCH more to administer since we have to print and proctor thousands of paper-and-pencil diagnostic exams in addition to printing thousands of pages worth of LSAT questions for each and every student.  (And this after paying LSAC their licensing fee for 5000+ questions). 

If LSAT shifted to a CAT format, there would be some changes in strategy (guessing would be penalized, no skipping questions, etc.).  A shift to a CBT, on the other hand would merely be putting the paper test on-screen, and little would change regarding strategy except things specifically related to bubbling your answer sheet and perhaps annotating passages/arguments.  Not a big shift.  GMAT has arguments similar to the LSAT and I teach them pretty much the same way.  The differences that would come are those mentioned above--larger database of questions means lower quality as LSAC would have to shift from roughly 400-800 new questions a year to 5,000-10,000 new questions by the first administration (and a constant influx of new questions thereafter). 

For the n00bs:
*CAT = Computer Adaptive Test.  Each correct/incorrect answer yields a slightly more/less difficult question, questions cannot be skipped, there is a score penalty for not finishing, and often there is a penalty for guessing incorrectly (an incorrect answer chosen in <30 seconds).

**CBT = Computer Based Test.  Essentially a paper test on-screen--no book or bubble sheet.  Some CBTs include on-screen annotation tools, but others only allow you to select an answer choice.

Quote from: Penn263 on April 30, 2008, 11:22:27 AM

Ok, let's continue this respectful disagreement but take a different angle. Jeffort, being that he is an LSAT tutor, theoretically has a personal bias to NOT modernize the test to a computer-based format. Obviously, revamping the test format and potentially altering question formats would throw his many years of expertise of the paper-based test out the window and require him to spend inordinate amounts of time learning the fine tips and pointers of how to navigate a new CBT version of the LSAT. Furthermore, LSAT tutoring centers would have to BUY tons of computers to properly administer the test to their students. Converting to a CBT version would cost Jeffort both time and money--and consequently, he would argue against changing the test even if he truly believed it was beneficial to test-takers. Jeffort, in a court of law, I'm sure your argument would be deemed biased and highly affected by personal interest, and therefore be irrelevant.

ha ha ha ha ha ha

You think it is about $$$$  and personal interest!!!!   ha ha ha ha ha

I will refrain from including a 'think about the kittens' image.........

Instead:

A Space Odyssey!

(and just so you know, in a court of law, it is not just assumed, but is actually deemed by the law that the advocates have a duty to serve the interests of the client, hence some sort of bias built in, but that is really just the foundation of the adversarial process itself!!!!!)

So, what's up with that big Yale word in your tar?  (I have a sweatshirt with that word on it too, it cost me about $65 and I only wear it at home when it is cold outside and I don't want to turn on the heat.)