Spring 2022 Course Evaluations

What aspect(s) of the course or instruction could be improved?

I wish we were able to do more practical work- such as actually working through a hypothetical case to determine if it is a CIMT or aggravated felony. We did some exercises as a group, but we read so much material that was generally high level- not so much practical- that I don’t know if I would feel confident in diving into a case on my own. The reading assigned was far too much for a two credit class. While I found the material interesting, some of the articles were unnecessarily dense and theoretical. I wish the reading was more specifically tailored, paired down and selected so that we could actually process new concepts better. It felt a bit like information overload, to the point that it made it difficult to grasp the concepts. I also think that a minimum 20 page paper for a 2 credit class is far too much- especially given the demands that we must write a law review style paper that has a different approach than what scholar’s have said. The amount of reading required to write such a paper, in addition to the reading for class simply created far too much work. I think breaking these concepts down further and reviewing more frequently would have helped me ground my knowledge more. Professor Shah ran the class like a sociology class, not a law class. The readings often had very little to do with the actual law we were studying and more on the social environment around the law. I was disappointed to have class after class with theoretical readings that are difficult to apply to practice. Additionally, she was very one-sided in the assigned readings and class discussions. Those that agreed with her, were encouraged by comments like "good point." I personally do not see how a 20+ minute hypothetical discussion of abolishing ICE will help me be a better lawyer. I would have liked to see more exercises where we could apply what we were learning to the real world. It would be helpful to have more guidance in selecting a topic for the paper. Maybe a discussion of current events or a brainstorming session in class? The topic plan and meeting were very helpful! Nothing. I think the way that the course was taught was perfect the way that it was given what we covered in class. The amount of readings seems to be a little too much for a 2 credit course, I think reducing the amount of reading to prepare for class would make the class less stressful. The timeline and deliverables for the final paper are very helpful but I felt lost when coming up with my topic and creating my outline because the instructions seemed too abstract. I also think that the paper topics should be chosen a little closer to the beginning as opposed to midway through the semester to give us enough time to do more research and efficiently complete a better written first draft. The reading was more than necessary. I read more for this two-credit course than my four-credit

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