nickdowse.com Blog

Some well-reasoned thoughts on marks

nick@nickdowse.com — 2011-01-20T07:14:49+10:00

I was reading a blog post this morning on an entirely different topic, which, incidentally, is also something I’m very interested in. But I came across this passage in the blog post which really resonated with me and I’d like to share it with you:

Do good marks necessarily mean that you’re smart? I don’t think that they do. Sometimes it just means that you’re good at picking what the teacher or lecturer wants to hear. Sometimes I’ve had very smart kids in my classes who haven’t done so well for one reason or another (they mucked up the timing in the exam, they got the wrong end of the stick in a question, they misread something, they picked a bad essay question). Intelligence is not merely a matter of doing well in exams; there are all kinds of intelligence out there.

This is 100% correct: getting good marks at university is all about picking what the lecturer wants to hear. Lecturers lose sleep over the fact that they’ve shown their students a concept and no one seems to get it. You will impress the examiner so much if you can just show them what they want: in the exam, repeat to them the concept they so desperately want you to “get” and apply it to the current situation. That’s how you can get 7s. I have already touched on this concept previously in my FAQs blog post here.

But some people just aren’t good at exams. I have known many of these types of people throughout my time at university. The trick is how to avoid stuffing up your timing in the exam, reading and rereading a question until you understand its intricacies, not misreading something, realising that essay questions are just too hard to do; take your chances with the problem questions!

At the end of the day, the author of the above passage is spot on. Good marks at university are not an indicator of your intelligence. I’m positive that most employers want to see that you will be a valuable member of their team, not just a freak who happened to excel at university. That said, good marks go a long way to getting your foot in the door, so it is important to try as hard as you can at university.

Quoted blog post available here: http://skepticlawyer.com.au/2011/01/19/chinese-mothers/

Chinese version of site

nick@nickdowse.com — 2010-12-05T21:12:43+10:00

I have launched a Chinese version of my site at:

http://www.nickdowse.com/chinese/

All the notes, of course, are still in English.

Semester 2 2010 - Download Statistics

nick@nickdowse.com — 2010-11-25T22:05:01+10:00

As has now become habitual, I thought I’d post some download statistics for the semester just gone: Semester 2, 2010.

The semester dates were 12 July 2010 - 13 November 2010. I have calculated the following statistics based on that timeframe.

My notes were downloaded 18,554 times during the semester.

I had 11,752 visits to the site during semester, from 6,256 unique visitors. Analytics report here.

Subject

Downloads

LWB139

1662

LWB239

1508

LWB237

1275

LWB137

1224

LWB241

1142

LWB334

1127

LWB236

1065

LWB138

1038

LWB235

965

LWB432

813

LWB136

702

LWB335

695

LWB238

556

LWB144

519

LWB483

479

LWB486

451

LWB332

449

LWB141

444

LWB431

412

LWB240

407

LWB459

406

LWB498

344

LWB231

285

LWB142

268

LWB482

157

LWB484

118

LWB433

TOTAL

18554

再见！

nick@nickdowse.com — 2010-11-27T12:00:00+10:00

I have finished my law degree at the end of 2010. I therefore won’t be adding any new notes.

Although I’m now finished, I’m always happy to answer any questions you have (but please be reasonable)... just Contact Me and I’ll try to get back to you.

All the best with your studies - may you all receive 7s.

Nick

Notes from Sem 2, 2010 Added

nick@nickdowse.com — 2010-11-25T22:00:33+10:00

I have added my LWB433 Professional Responsibility notes to the Law Notes page.

Semester 1 2010 - Download Statistics

nick@nickdowse.com — 2010-06-25T10:26:32+10:00

As usual, I thought I’d post some download statistics for the semester just gone: Semester 1, 2010.

The semester dates were 22 February 2010 - 22 June 2010. I have calculated the following statistics based on that timeframe.

My notes were downloaded 13,005 times during the semester. That is EPIC.

I had 9,687 visits to the site during semester, from 4,869 unique visitors. Analytics report here.

That seems like a lot of people to me... I’m positive there aren’t that many law students at QUT....

Subject	Download Count
LWB236	1295
LWB238	1198
LWB136	1129
LWB240	1037
LWB335	945
LWB138	908
LWB235	894
LWB332	867
LWB237	618
LWB139	598
LWB141	573
LWB137	451
LWB334	411
LWB142	377
LWB239	357
LWB241	281
LWB231	264
LWB486	263
LWB482	210
LWB144	115
LWB484	96
LWB431	60
LWB432	58
Grand Total	13005

Just remember, the examiners are going to know if you are using someone else’s notes if you just copy them out verbatim (which wouldn’t get you a very good mark in any event). Remember to update. Remember to apply your notes in a way that shows the examiner you know what you’re talking about.

Best of luck for your studies!

Nick

Notes from Sem 1 2010 Added

nick@nickdowse.com — 2010-06-23T16:40:33+10:00

I have added my notes for the following subjects from Semester 1, 2010:

Evidence (LWB432)
Civil Procedure (LWB431)
Commercial and Consumer Law (LWB459)

All the best!

Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

nick@nickdowse.com — 2010-06-15T21:44:26+10:00

I get quite a few emails from you lovely people that visit this website. I thought that, to save myself the ongoing agony, I’d prepare a short FAQ in the hope that someone will read it before sending an email.

What marks did you get?
None of your business :). I’m a very humble person and I don’t like to gloat. But I can tell you one thing for sure, I hope you all get 7s.

What is your GPA?
Once again, none of your business :). I’m a very humble person and I don’t like to gloat. But I can tell you one thing for sure, I hope your GPA is 7 (yes that means you get a 7 for every single subject for your entire degree). NOTE: my GPA is definitely not 7, far from!

Do you have any tips for, like, doing well in exams?
Not really. My main tip would be to find out what the examiner wants. What are they looking for. I usually go and see the unit co-ordinator and say quite frankly to them “what do you want to see from me in my exam paper?” They’re usually more than happy to tell you. Make use of your tutor; tell them you want a 7 and what are they really looking for in your exam answers. Make links between topics in the subject. Don’t arrange your notes into “week” order. Put them into “thought process” order. My brain works best by following steps, flows: step 1, do this, step 2, do this. To get a 7 in a subject, the criteria is that you show:
“evidence of an exceptional level of achievement of unit learning outcomes, such as: thorough and well reasoned critical analysis and evaluation of concepts, theories and practice from the field of study, creative and insightful application of well integrated theoretical and practical knowledge to professional contexts.”

So you need to be able to MAKE LINKS between different weeks, and not treat the topics as distinct and separate, unless of course they totally are. And write like a lawyer. Make the examiner think you know what the hell you’re talking about. Don’t just blurt everything you have down onto the page. A lawyer’s tools are his/her words. On that point, make sure you’re able to spell words properly. Seriously.

Do you have notes for [insert random subject]?
Does it look like I have notes for [insert random subject]? If I have them, they’re on the website. Sheesh!

Why do you put your notes online?
I don’t really know. For some reason, I have always been willing to share my notes. My mantra has always been “sharing is caring.” As I once explained to one of my friends, “I don’t care what everyone else gets, as long as I get a 7.” That’s my thing. That’s why I put my notes online.

What is a kneecaps document?
One of the things me and my friends find helpful to use when studying is to have a tabular document that is basically a hint sheet that says “if you see these kinds of facts in a question, talk about A, B and C.” We first used one of these documents most extensively in the 2nd-year subject Equity. One of the “look for this in the facts” things was something along the lines of... “If you leave this house I’ll break your kneecaps” (which, for your information, meant that we were supposed to talk about ‘Undue Influence’ in having the contract set aside in equity). We didn’t really have a short name for documents of this type. The next time we went to create one, it was colloquially referred to as “that kneecaps document” and this has stuck since. For subjects where the kneecaps document has proved actually helpful, I’ve always included it in the documents I have uploaded on this site.

When do you graduate?
The end of 2010. I have a graduate job at Blake Dawson, and I’ll be starting there in 2011.

How come there are less and less subject notes towards the later years of your degree?
I did lots of other stuff at uni in my final years... I did work experience subjects and worked overseas and stuff. So naturally there are no notes. Sorry!

Have you ever spilt coffee/tea all over your notes and computer about 2 hours before you’re meant to sit the exam?
Funny you ask. Yes I have. It sucks! Here’s what it looked like (I had already taken away my notes and tried to dry them using a hairdryer (not mine, I swear)). Also, I know my mug says “Nicholas the greatest” - it was a present. I’m not that much of a loser.

This was a couple of hours before my LWB431 Civil Procedure exam in 2010. My printed exam notes were partially destroyed (but still useable in their crispy, brittle state) but my computer’s keyboard was totally ruined! :(

Semester 2, 2009 - Download Statistics

nick@nickdowse.com — 2009-11-22T11:39:44+10:00

I thought I’d continue the trend of posting some statistics about the site. Like last time, I was completely overwhelmed at the interest in notes on the site. I received many “thank you” emails throughout the semester and even a few after the end of exams.

Without further ado, here are the statistics for Semester 2, 2009 (calculated from 20/07/2009 - 14/11/2009):

Subject	Downloads
LWB139	723
LWB239	543
LWB137	503
LWB241	493
LWB237	462
LWB335	407
LWB235	336
LWB138	326
LWB144	257
LWB136	249
LWB238	201
LWB236	170
LWB141	168
LWB332	165
LWB231	117
LWB482	117
LWB240	111
LWB142	105
Grand	5453

Notes from Sem 2 2009 Added

nick@nickdowse.com — 2009-11-05T11:53:15+10:00

I have added some notes from Semester 2, 2009.

These include:
LWB334 Corporate Law
LWB486 Intellectual Property Law
LWB484 Electronic Commerce and Technology Contracts

New Notes Added

nick@nickdowse.com — 2009-06-23T16:48:00+10:00

I have just added Commercial and Personal Property Law (LWB332), Administrative Law (LWB335) and Internet Law (LWB482) notes to the Law Notes page.

Please note: Commercial and Personal Property Law (LWB332) has been canned, and is now subsumed into Property Law A and Property Law B. Administrative Law LWB335 used to be Administrative Law LWB331. Its content is the same, except that it now covers Freedom of Information, the Ombudsman and Crown Immunity from Statute.

Statistics for Semester 1, 2009

nick@nickdowse.com — 2009-06-23T16:00:00+10:00

To say that I was totally overwhelmed by the interest in this site since I set it up in January 2009 would be an understatement.

Now, I don’t really have any basis for comparison because none of the other sites offering notes on the interwebs allows you to see statistics for what was downloaded. So I thought it would be cool to give you an idea of what went on behinds the scenes here in semester 1, 2009, and more specifically, during swotvac and exam block...

Since the site launched, there have been at least 1515 unique visitors to the site. To date, 541 of those have occurred in June alone. There have been in excess of 3000 visits in total.... WTF!

But that’s just unique visitors, here are the statistics for each set of notes that was downloaded:

LWB238.zip

300

LWB136.zip

297

LWB138.zip

285

LWB240.zip

281

LWB236.zip

262

LWB235.zip

233

LWB139.zip

158

LWB241.zip

133

LWB237.zip

132

LWB239.zip

111

LWB231.zip

111

LWB137.zip

107

LWB141.zip

100

LWB142.zip

LWB144.zip

My Law Notes Now Available

nick@nickdowse.com — 2009-01-27T20:03:35+10:00

My exam notes that I have used are now available at: http://www.nickdowse.com/lawnotes.

The ones early on in my degree are obviously quite crap, but the 2008 ones are, generally, much better.

Enjoy! Sharing is caring :)