Dear Teachers of Tort Law,

The following email request is sent with the permission of ODG
convener Jason Neyers.

As part of a teaching and learning research project ("How Law
Students Learn") conducted with two of my colleagues at the Faculty
of Law, University of Hong Kong, we want to gather some data
regarding the nature and form of tort law final examination questions
generally used by tort law teachers around the world, in particular,
problem-style questions. With Jason's permission we now invite all
tort teachers, whether or not members of ODG, to complete the
questionnaire (below) and return it to us by November 12. Those who
reply will receive the collated results of the survey a few weeks later.

Given the innocuous subject matter of the questionnaire, anonymity
may not be important to everyone. We nonetheless ask that when
replying you reply to the Faculty of Law IT support staff, Mr Shek
Lai, whose email address is in the cc box above. Replies will be
received and handled in confidence by Mr Lai. Mr Lai will collate the
results, which I will in due course send to respondents. If you
inadvertently reply to me or to "all", not to worry, I will ensure
your reply reaches Mr Lai.

We are grateful to Jason for permitting us to use the ODG list in
this way, and we are of course be grateful to all of you for taking
the time to complete the questionnaire.

Best wishes.

Rick Glofcheski
Faculty of Law
University of Hong Kong




To Tort Law Teachers who examine in whole or in part by final examination:


1. What is the percentage weight attached to the final tort law
examination in relation to the total course assessment? (eg 100% of
total course assessment, 50% etc) ______%

2. What is the usual duration of your final examination? (eg 2.5
hours) _____hours

3. How many questions is a student required to answer in your typical
final examination? _____

4. Do students have a choice of questions on your typical final
examination? Y/N _____

5. If there is choice of questions, what is the total number of
questions typically on your examination? _____

6. What percentage of the questions is hypothetical problem-style as
opposed to essay-style (eg 100% of the questions, 50% etc)? _______%

7. Are the problem-style questions fictional, in the sense of being
the product of your own invention/imagination? Y/N _____

8. Would you describe your typical problem-style question as
consisting of a carefully designed fact pattern that manages to
address a range of issues you wish to assess within that question? Y/N _____

9. Would you describe your typical problem-style question as
consisting of a fact pattern of events which, while individually
possible, occur in a sequence which is exaggerated and thus unlikely
actually to happen? Y/N _____

10. Would you describe your typical problem-style question as
consisting of a fact pattern that is entirely possible, in the sense
that in its entirety it reflects the sort of event or sequence of
events that might realistically happen in the daily life of your
community? Y/N _____

11. Do any of your problem-style examination questions involve the
wholesale adoption of the facts of true-to-life events that have been
reported in the local media? Y/N _____

12. Here you can write anything you feel is needed to qualify or
explain any of your responses above: