But we're not in the 20th century anymore.
LSAC has played around with the idea of moving to a computer or tablet-based test for a while, but never done anything about it (possibly due to concerns about cheating).
That may be changing.
A pre-law advisor in the Dallas, TX, area just got the following email from a "User Experience Recruiting Manager" at Usability Sciences Corporation.
Usability Sciences, a user experience research firm located in the Las Colinas area, is currently working with the Law School Admission Council to conduct one-on-one usability sessions (similar to focus groups) in June and we need both those who are planning to take the LSAT and those who have already taken the LSAT. If you plan to take the LSAT in the future, the exposure to the LSAT question types during this study may be of value to you in your test preparation efforts. If you’ve already taken the LSAT, your feedback will be of great value to this research.
Sessions will be conducted in June (at Usability Sciences in Las Colinas) and will last approximately 90 minutes. Those who qualify and participate will receive $100 for their time (you only need to attend one 90-minute session on one day).
This research is being conducted on behalf of the Law School Admission Council. If interested in participating, please send an email to recruiter@usabilitysciences.com and indicate that you are interested in the LSAC study. Once more information and dates become available, Usability Sciences will contact you directly.
If you participate, please reach out and let us know what it's like!
No one ever survived for long standing in the path of progress. So I assume a computer-based LSAT will be here before we know it. But that said, I can imagine some challenges that a digital-based testing format could create.
ReplyDeleteWe who've taken (or practiced taking) the LSAT know that our greatest enemy is the clock. Every second counts in attempting to complete each section and answer every question correctly. We're often forced to skip a particularly vexing problem hoping to return to it later. But with computerized testing, we may find we're wasting precious minutes scrolling or clicking back and forth, hunting for that elusive question (now, was it #13 or #17?), the one we'd chosen to bypass on the first go-around. And what if the testing platform didn't let us to do that? We couldn't diagram Games on the computer screen. So, we'd need separate paper. (I hope they'd supply it.) We'd be alternating our eyes between the screen and our diagram, a time-wasting distraction. Yes, a computerized LSAT could impose a whole new set of time-related impediments that a paper-and-pencil test does not have.
The only section where computers would prove especially helpful is the writing sample. (My handwriting is nearly illegible.) But then again, most test takers, and sadly, many law schools, pay little, if any, attention to whether we'd put a bike path or else more parking spaces down Main Street (or something like that.)