ABSTRACT
Two students at the University of Minnesota enter the “computer room” in the law library. The room contains an ordinary telephone and a computer terminal that looks like a large typewriter. The students telephone the university’s computer. The computer answers with a high-pitched whine, signifying that it is healthy and ready to start. The computer congratulates them for a correct answer, gives them a score of 100 for that question, and resumes the hypothetical trial. The computer collects information about all the student answers and later prepares a printout showing what percentage of the students gave each of the possible answers. Many students had a fundamental misconception about the scope of the best evidence rule. The hypothetical case described illustrates the experience that students and teachers might have using one of the law-related exercises currently available on the University of Minnesota computer.
