Exams & Assessment
Assessment Resources
FAQs and presentations on exam design, AI and exams, testing accommodations, and grading. These are the questions I get asked most often.
Exams and AI — FAQ for Faculty
The questions I hear most from faculty about AI and exams — can students use it, how do you prevent it, what about offline models, and what are students saying about cheating. Includes strategies and sample exam instruction language.
View PDFTesting Accommodations — FAQ for Faculty
What you need to know about testing accommodations — how many students receive them (~30% of 1Ls and rising), what they actually look like, what triggers them, and how they should shape your exam design decisions.
View PDFExams Destabilized
If we were starting from scratch, how would we design exams? Data on our current practices — in-class vs. take-home split, exam lengths, format breakdown — plus frameworks for rethinking assessment.
View PDFGrades and Grading at Penn Law
How grading works here — the established grade distributions for 1L required courses, 1L electives, and upper-level; mandatory vs. suggested curves; and the A+ policy. More practical than you'd expect.
View PDFExam Software
ExamSoft / Examplify
Examplify is our exam-taking software. ITS maintains the documentation — these are the pages most relevant to faculty.
Exam Administration
ITS's main exam documentation page — how exams work in Examplify, settings (including the “secure” and “no internet” options discussed in the AI FAQ), and what you need to know when setting up your exam.
Visit pageMultiple Choice in ExamSoft
If you're using MC questions, this covers the student interface — how navigation, flagging, and question tracking work from the student's side.
Visit pageRegistrar — Exam Policies
The Registrar's exam page — scheduling, rules, and the administrative side of exam administration.
Visit pageA Note on Exam Format
Each faculty member determines the format of their own exam, including whether students may use AI. It's your call. The Exams and AI FAQ has strategies and sample language for setting clear policies in your exam instructions.
Pedagogy & AI
Teaching & AI at Penn Law
Pedagogy session slides, AI guides from the AI Teaching Lab, and the tools we have available.
Pedagogy Sessions
Recent Faculty Sessions
Exams Destabilized
If we were starting from scratch, how would we design exams? Data on our current practices and frameworks for rethinking assessment.
Grades and Grading at Penn Law
How grading actually works here — established distributions, mandatory vs. suggested curves, and the A+ policy.
Teaching with Generative AI — Demos
Five demos faculty can adapt — image generation, class scripts, hypothetical drafting, Virtual TA setup, and essay grading. Maintained at the AI Teaching Lab.
A Pedagogical Innovation Agenda
Reflections on 2023–24 — course evaluation response rates hit ~90%, introduction of the pedagogical innovation agenda, and AI updates.
Faculty Discussions
Meeting Notes & Summaries
1L Faculty Conversation
Fall 1L grade timing, formative assessments, accommodations, AI and exam security, ebook concerns, and the ChatGPT EDU rollout.
AI Teaching Lab Toolkit
Practical Guides & Resources
Practical guides from our AI Teaching Lab — syllabus language, tool overviews, prompt engineering, and more. These are living documents that update automatically.
Attribution, AI Policies & Sample AI Use Disclosures
Prof. Struve's guide to AI attribution policies — sample syllabus language, sample student AI use disclosure statements for different assignment types, and a thoughtful analysis of what counts as “good” AI use.
View PDFBest Practices for AI in Legal Education
How to integrate AI into your teaching — use cases for students and faculty, with guidance by course type (doctrinal, research/writing, clinics, upper-level).
Read guideAI Syllabus Guide
Sample syllabus language for AI policies — permissive to restrictive. Includes the questions students will ask and three ready-to-use templates.
Read guidePrompt Guide & Scenarios
A framework for effective AI prompting, with law school scenarios — preparing for class, generating practice questions, and conducting legal research.
Read guideLegal AI Tool Guide
What's out there — AI tools for legal research, contract management, e-discovery, practice management, and more, with specific examples and links.
Read guideCreating a Virtual TA with Custom GPTs
How to build a custom GPT as a virtual TA for your course — step by step, from setup to deployment on ChatGPT EDU. Based on the one I built for Intro to IP.
Read guideFaculty Guide to AI Tools
Setup guide for ChatGPT and Claude accounts — what to do, what privacy settings to check, and six worked examples of using AI for research. Start here if you're new.
Read guideAI Use Policy Templates
Sample syllabus language and student-disclosure templates for AI-assisted work. Treats AI attribution like any other source, with five worked examples (screening readings, draft reviews, design feedback, brainstorming, outline audits) and disclosure statements you can adapt.
Read guide1L Guidance on ChatGPT Edu Use
Official guidance to 1Ls on using ChatGPT — what it's good at (study support, brainstorming), where it fails (precise facts, legal reasoning, citations), and the “human-AI-human sandwich” approach we want them to use. Useful to know when setting your own course AI policy.
Read guideAI Tips for 1Ls
Talking points for faculty delivering AI orientation to 1Ls — how LLMs work, overreliance risks, academic integrity, and practical use cases. The presenter version of the 1L Guidance above.
Read guideAI Resources at Penn
AI tools and resources available across Penn — what we have at the law school (Harvey, ChatGPT EDU, Westlaw AI), Penn-wide initiatives, and research centers you might want to know about.
Read guide Also: AI Resources portal →All AI Teaching Lab guides are living documents — content updates automatically. View the full AI Teaching Lab Resource Menu
Looking for broader AI resources beyond teaching — tools access, prompting tips, data policies, and what's happening across Penn? Visit the AI Resources page.
AI Skills for Teaching
Cross-Tool AI Teaching Skills
I've built a set of open-source AI skills for law faculty teaching tasks. Built on the agentskills open spec, they work with Claude Code, ChatGPT, and other compatible tools. Requires a paid Claude or ChatGPT subscription (including ChatGPT EDU). Email me if you want help getting set up.
MCQ Exam Generator
Generate multiple-choice exam questions for any law course. Grounded in psychometric research — distractor validation, cognitive taxonomy tagging, and coverage balancing. Supports course presets.
View on GitHubEssay Exam Generator
Generate essay exam questions with SOLO taxonomy layering, construct alignment to your course materials, and rubrics designed for grading. Issue spotters, policy questions, cross-doctrinal fact patterns.
View on GitHubClass Problems
Create and revise adversarial in-class problems and hypotheticals for any law course. Tell it the topic and readings — it builds the problem.
View on GitHubFull Class Prep
All-in-one class preparation: checks your slides against readings for coverage and pacing, reviews class problems, and produces a lecture guide document. Say “prep class 8” and it does the rest.
View on GitHubSlide Reviewer
Reviews your lecture slides against the assigned readings — flags coverage gaps, pacing issues, and misalignments. Useful before any class session.
View on GitHubFull list with installation instructions (Claude Code + ChatGPT): github.com/polkwagner/law-faculty-skills
For non-teaching skills — email drafting, document comment summaries, PDF rendering — see the AI Resources portal.
AI Tools at Penn Law
Penn provides institutional access to Microsoft Copilot Chat, ChatGPT EDU, Harvey, and the AI features built into Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law.
Setup, eligibility, and the rules on which tools are approved for which data classifications all live on the AI Resources portal — that's the canonical spot for AI tool policies at Penn Law.
Want help getting started, a classroom demo, or to pilot AI-assisted assignments? Let me know.
Tell Me What You're Doing
I want to hear about your teaching — new things you're trying, what's working, what isn't, experiments that flopped. All of it is useful. The best ideas I've seen come from colleagues sharing what they've done, and I'd like to collect and share more of that. Drop me a note anytime: pwagner@law.upenn.edu
Policies & How-To
Teaching Policies &
Practical Guides
The nuts and bolts — teaching loads, leave, course materials, and the handbooks.
Faculty Teaching & Leave System
Dean Lee's statement of teaching and leave policy — teaching loads (2 courses + seminar), teaching relief, stacking, scholarly leave, and accrual rules. Includes several changes favorable to faculty.
View PDFFaculty Teaching & Leave System — Practice Professors
Dean Lee's teaching and leave policy for the practice professor track — covers the same ground as the standing faculty memo, adapted for the differences that matter for practice faculty.
View PDFPenn Law Faculty Handbook
The law school's handbook for standing faculty — scholarly leave, compensation for outside activities, parental leave, disability leave, and other institutional policies. Referenced in the Teaching & Leave System memo above.
View PDFAdjunct Faculty Handbook
For adjunct and visiting faculty — teaching expectations, administrative procedures, exam policies, student services, and the practical things you need to know.
View PDFCourse Packs & Supplementary Materials
How to distribute course materials — PDF via Canvas is the way to go. Also covers printing options for students (Campus Copy Center has a discounted rate), library course reserve, and sample syllabus language.
View PDFTeaching Assistants
Hiring TAs for Your Course
The law school covers up to two paid TAs for classes expected to enroll more than 30 students. Beyond that, you can use faculty research funds or offer students credit instead of pay.
Hiring a Paid TA
2Ls, 3Ls, and LLMs are paid $22.86/hour. If you have a student in mind, have them complete the Student Worker Form. If you need to post the position, email Career Services. Questions about the process go to Mariah Ford (mford1@law.upenn.edu).
TA for Credit
Students can receive up to 2 credits (CR/F) for TA work instead of pay. Direct them to the Registrar's Office at reg@law.upenn.edu — there's a form they'll fill out, and you'll sign.
Faculty Commons
The Faculty Commons is the law school's internal portal — handbooks, policies, forms, and administrative resources. You'll need your PennKey to log in.
Everyday Resources
The “Where Do I Find...” Links
Links to pages maintained by ITS, the Library, and the Registrar. These update on their own — I'm just collecting them in one place.
Canvas — Getting Started
Setting up your course site, navigating the interface, and the basics of Canvas. Start here if you're new or need a refresher.
Visit pageCanvas — myCourses
Managing your course roster, sections, and student access in Canvas.
Visit pageCourse Evaluations
How course evaluations work in Canvas — timing, the “Canvas block,” and what you can expect.
Visit pageClassroom Technology
Room-by-room guides for AV setup — projectors, microphones, Zoom, document cameras. Find your classroom and see what's available.
Visit pageBiddle Law Library — Faculty Services
Research support, course reserves, purchasing requests, and your library liaison. Underused — the librarians are very good and genuinely want to help with your courses.
Visit pageAcademic Calendar
Key dates — semester start/end, exam periods, grade deadlines, registration windows, and holidays.
Visit pageCode of Student Conduct & Responsibility
The academic integrity policy — what constitutes a violation, the process, and the standards. You'll want to know this exists when setting your AI and exam policies.
Visit pageKey Contacts
Who to Contact
Exam & Academic Affairs
Questions about exam logistics, scheduling, timing, grade submission, student accommodations implementation, and Canvas site setup.
Course Materials & Faculty Support
Help assembling course packs, converting materials to PDF, and general faculty support services.
Pedagogy, AI & Curriculum
Teaching innovation, AI integration, pedagogy conversations, course design, and curriculum questions.
Human Resources
Leave other than scholarly leave — parental leave, disability leave, personal leave, and other HR matters.
Innovation & Resources
Teaching Innovation &
Further Reading
Support for your teaching, resources from across Penn, and articles worth reading.
Teaching Innovation at Penn Law
Support for Your Teaching
Two things many faculty don't know about.
Pedagogical Innovation Fund
I administer a fund to support new ideas in teaching. If you want to try something different — create a dataset or simulation for your course, produce a video, bring in a special consultant (e.g., a wellness expert), take students on an innovative field trip, or add TA support for a new teaching approach — we can help pay for it. No formal application — just email me with what you have in mind.
Email Polk WagnerThe Regina Austin Innovation in Teaching Award
Annual award recognizing Penn Carey Law faculty who go beyond traditional teaching techniques to engage students, foster critical thinking, and prepare them for the complexities of legal practice. Named for Professor Regina Austin — a pioneering educator known for incorporating critical race theory, documentary filmmaking, and public interest law into her teaching. Announced annually by the Dean after nominations from faculty and students.
Penn Resources
CETLI — Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Innovation
Penn's university-wide teaching center. They offer consultations, workshops, and course design support. Several of their resource pages are directly relevant to us.
Generative AI & Teaching
CETLI's guide to AI in the classroom — Penn-specific policies, assignment design, and strategies for using (or limiting) AI in your courses.
Visit pageAcademic Integrity
Penn's academic integrity resources — policies, prevention strategies, and what to do when you suspect a violation.
Visit pageSAIL — Structured Active Learning
Frameworks for active learning in large classes. If you're looking to move beyond pure lecture, this is a good starting point.
Visit pageCourse Design Institute
Multi-day intensive on designing (or redesigning) a course from scratch. Especially useful if you're building a new course or rethinking an existing one.
Visit CETLITeaching Every Student
Inclusive teaching practices — strategies for reaching students across different backgrounds, learning styles, and life circumstances.
Visit pageConsultations & Classroom Observations
Free, confidential, one-on-one support. They'll observe your class and give you honest feedback, or help you work through a teaching challenge. Underused by law faculty.
Visit CETLIReading & Research
Articles Worth Reading
Recent scholarship on legal pedagogy, AI in legal education, and assessment — the stuff I've found most useful or thought-provoking.
Turning Risks of Cheating with AI into Opportunities for Better Teaching
Reframes the AI cheating problem as a teaching design problem. Practical and well-argued.
Grading Machines: Can AI Exam-Grading Replace Law Professors?
Empirical study of AI grading performance on law school exams. The results are more interesting than the title suggests.
Can AI Hold Office Hours?
Explores using AI as a student-facing teaching tool — relevant to the Virtual TA concept in our AI Teaching Lab toolkit.
Measuring the Impacts of Experiential Legal Education
Data on what experiential education actually does for students. Useful for anyone teaching or designing clinical or skills courses.