Partnering Technology with Learning
by
Victoria J. Palacios

Computer technology is more than just an efficient way to manage data. It also enables us to apply principles of learning theory more effectively than ever.

Authorware designed for law teachers makes it possible to employ electronic mechanisms to give effect to learning theories. I attempted to bring technology and learning theory together in an electronic supplement, titled Tortorial, for my Torts course.

The last 75 years have seen little change in legal education and its twin defining attributes: the study of appellate opinions to discover the law, and the Socratic classroom in which the teacher's skillful questions guide the student to these discoveries. Those attributes will not continue to be the lynchpins of legal education because they frequently operate in counterproductive ways.

Students -- even very bright ones -- struggle to master the legal method as well as the substance of their courses in the first year. They suffer unnecessary anxiety that further reduces their ability to study effectively. With little feedback from professors, students take a three- or four-hour exam at semester's end that determines their course grade and whether they rank high enough for job interviews with top firms. Under these stressful circumstances, it is surprising that students learn as much as they do.

What law professors know about learning theory is more likely to be the result of intuition than formal education. For example, we know that repeated exposure to material enables students to learn, though we may not apply the term "associative learning" to the phenomenon. A more conscious application of learning theory will permit law teachers to reach their students more effectively.

This lead me to write Tortorial. The software I used was FolioVIEWS 3.1. I divided the law of torts into 28 topics arranged under six primary subjects. Each interactive topic contains a narrative explanation of the law followed by two practice sections. The narrative contains pop-up links and jump links that appear as brightly colored hypertext on the computer screen. When students place the cursor over a hypertext word, the cursor changes to an icon of a hand with a pointing finger. Double-clicking on the icon activates one of two functions:

Pop-up Links: A smaller box pops up on the screen with additional information. It may be a question and answer, a definition, or a citation to a case. The students read the information and return to the main text by closing the box.

Occasionally the pop-up will pose a question and there will be a lighter question mark at its end. Students who double-click on the question mark will retrieve an answer in a pop-up within the primary pop-up. The students then back out of both pop-ups by closing each one in turn. I included as many as five pop-ups within a primary pop-up.

Jump Links: When students double-click on a jump link, the program takes them to another part of the supplement, which may be to another, more detailed narrative or to a relevant section of the Restatement (Second) of Torts or other supporting documents. The students can return to the original narrative by clicking on "backtrack" in the margin.

At the end of each topic are the practice sections, "Preparation" and "Test Yourself." By double-clicking either of these brightly colored words, students will access either questions that will help in preparation for class discussions or hypotheticals, many with pop-up sample responses. These exercises enable students to gain immediate feedback regarding their ability to understand foundational principles.

An electronic supplement employs the efficiency and excitement of interactive computer technology. More important, it uses that technology to serve essential pedagogical purposes: to enable students, inundated with new material, to connect pieces of relevant information and to assess their ability to apply the law intermittently.

At any point in the course, students can use Tortorial in various ways:

To preview a topic before reading the case.

Only practice can help first-year students to overcome the difficulty posed by reading and understanding cases. Practice is more productive when students have some advance notion of what they are expected to get out of the case and how it connects with the rest of the course. Previewing the topic helps students to recognize the rules and exceptions.

To review and relate topics to upcoming material.

For example, in the topic entitled "Consent as a Defense to Intentional Torts," the students encounter jump links that take them forward to "Defenses to Negligent Torts." This informs them that more defenses will be covered and that some defenses to intentional torts differ from defenses to negligent torts. The students may wish to read the material reviewed or previewed to reinforce previously covered principles or to acquaint themselves with those that will be covered in the future.

To see graphic depictions of legal principles.

Tortorial contains illustrations and graphs relating to such things as case analysis and synthesis, the role of judge and jury, defenses and privileges, allocation of damages among multiple tortfeasors, damages, and recovery for emotional distress. Many of these focus on the connections among various legal concepts.

Learning benefits of electronic supplement

On a more general level, students who use an electronic supplement will reap additional benefits. Many of these benefits will manifest themselves in the classroom as well. Besides demystifying law school to some degree, Tortorial may reduce entering students' stress by providing immediate feedback. Professors benefit because they can teach more effectively if students are better prepared and less stressed.

An electronic supplement can be useful to students at all levels of performance. High achievers will be engaged by challenging hypotheticals. On the other hand, the interactive links and the practice exercises can be particularly helpful to students who do not learn as quickly as their classmates.

Additionally, electronic supplements are useful to students with different learning styles or modes of cognition. People tend to favor one of two primary modes of cognition: analytic or synthetic. Analytic thinkers tend to reduce new information to its smallest component, while synthetic thinkers tend to relate new information to the larger whole.

An electronic supplement utilizes both. Some people receive information best auditorially while others learn best visually. An electronic supplement adds an important visual component to the study of law. Moreover, it adds a tactile dimension to learning because it is interactive.

Students' reactions to Tortorial were very positive. They liked the way it gave them access to the law and direction in their studies. Some were initially reluctant, but most students were pleased once the program was up and running. Complaints centered on technical problems and dissatisfaction with the degree to which Tortorial repeated materials discussed in class. (Because the basis of Tortorial was my class notes, it is not surprising that the material overlapped.) Other students complained that I didn't give enough class time to discussion of Tortorial hypotheticals. Responses on my course evaluations were overwhelmingly positive and employed such praise as "very helpful," "great," "wonderful," and "awesome."

In class, I noticed that we moved more quickly past the fundamentals (covered in Tortorial) and spent more time on advanced discussion than in previous years.

I found the experience worthwhile. I intend to continue to use Tortorial in class and am working on an electronic supplement for an advanced course.