Advanced Logic and Legal Reasoning – GOVT 409
CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 02/01/2024
Course Description
This course will address advanced concepts of logic and legal reasoning and engage the student in practical applications to reinforce sound legal thinking.
For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.
Rationale
The two primary goals of the Pre-Law and Policy program are to provide an opportunity for the student to obtain skills that will assist him/her in both obtaining admittance and succeeding in law school. Likewise, the purpose of this course is to further expose the undergraduate student to principles of logic and reasoning that are used in the legal community, including logic and legal reasoning skills relevant to the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and to the rigors of the legal profession.
Course Assignment
Textbook readings and lecture presentations
Course Requirements Checklist
Discussions (7)
Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide a thread in response to the provided prompt for each Discussion. Each thread must be 400–500 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 classmates’ threads. Each reply must be 200–250 words. Threads and replies must each cite at least 1 scholarly citation in Bluebook format.
LSAT Exam Research Paper Assignment
The student will locate articles that address the research performed by Berkley on how studying for the LSAT exam can alter brain structure. Then, based upon all the reading and reviewing for this course, the student will write a 5–8-page paper analyzing how the LSAT exam tests logic and legal reasoning skills, including deductive and inductive reasoning and understanding of fallacies. At least 3 quality sources must be used to support the student’s position. Also, at the end of the paper the student must include a paragraph that states the date the student will take the LSAT and a list of actions to be taken prior to that date in order to prepare for the LSAT
exam. The research paper must follow current Bluebook formatting.
Quizzes: LSAT Exams (7)
During this course, the student will take 7 LSAT practice exams from the text 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests Volume V: PrepTests 62 through 71. The exams must be taken using the Scantron sheet provided with the textbook. For each Quiz: LSAT Exam, you will designate the exam taken, provide the answers to the exam, and then complete the assigned Discussion for that Module: Week based on the exam. You will submit the answers to the exam by taking a picture of the completed Scantron (with a camera, cell phone, etc.) or by scanning the completed Scantron. The image of the Scantron can then be uploaded to the Quiz. Each exam will have a 2-hour and 30-minute time limit.
