Upcoming Conferences
Institute
- Teaching Law for Engaged Learning (ILTL and Center for Engaged Learning in the Law), April 10, 2010
- Teaching Law Practice Across the Curriculum (presentation proposals due 2/12/2010), June 16-18, 2010
Other
- Teaching in a Transformative Era: The Law School of the Future (Society of American Law Teachers (SALT)), December 10-11, 2009
- Vulnerable Populations and Economic Realities:: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Law Teaching (Golden Gate University School of Law / Society of American Law Teachers (SALT)), March 19-20, 2010
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Idea For November 2009
Coverage Choices
Many law teachers struggle with the issue of "coverage" in their courses. An important underlying question is, "Coverage of what?" All law school courses "cover" something. Effective course design requires teachers to articulate fundamental coverage choices.
Article For November 2009
Robin Boyle and Rita Dunn, Teaching Law Students Through Individual Learning Styles, 62 Albany Law Review 213 (1998).
As teachers, we all feel frustrated when our students don't learn, and it's tempting to blame the students: "They can't deal with ambiguity." "They don't work hard enough." "They aren't able to think abstractly." In this excellent article, Professor Robin Boyle of St. John's, and her collaborator, Dr. Rita Dunn, also of St. John's, offer alternative explanations for students' failures to learn based on the research on learning styles. They studied the learning styles of students attending St. John's and found what learning style experts would expect-- the students varied greatly in their learning styles. They advocate that law professors assess their own students and adapt their teaching to better reach a broad spectrum of students.
[Read fulltext (469 KB PDF)]
(Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Albany Law Review, © 1985)
