The Institute for Law Teaching and Learning (ILTL) is committed to serving the needs of full-time and adjunct law teachers from the United States and abroad. We believe that these resources contain ideas and insights appropriate for all law teachers.
Resources
- Articles on teaching specific courses published in the Saint Louis University Law Journal‘s Annual Teaching Issue.
- Teaching Materials Network website (Stetson Law) contains teaching notes, PowerPoints, handouts, etc., contributed by law professors for over 100 law school courses.
- Teaching Law by Design for Adjuncts 2nd Edition (Carolina Academic Press, 2016) (with Michael Schwartz and Sophie Sparrow)
- Teaching Law by Design: Engaging Students from the Syllabus to the Final Exam 2nd Edition (Carolina Academic Press, 2016) (with Michael Schwartz and Sophie Sparrow)
- A Day in the Life of Law School Teaching (produced by Larry Dubin) (Learn more and watch video)
- Lustbader, Zimet, Hess, Teach to the Whole Class: Barriers and Pathways to Learning(Learn more and watch video)
- Overcoming Barriers in Preparing Law Students for Real-World Practice (Symposium), University of Missouri School of Law Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, October 19, 2012 (Papers & Powerpoints| Videos)
Team-based Learning is a learner-centered teaching strategy designed to fully engage students in mastering course knowledge, skills, and values. While Team-Based Learning has been used for over 30 years in 23 countries in a wide range of fields, including business and medicine, very few law professors have been exposed to or adopted Team-Based Learning. The fundamental principle of Team-Based Learning is that together the team achieves more. A course is divided into learning units, and then each unit follows a pattern of students
- acquiring basic knowledge,
- being assessed and receiving immediate feedback about their mastery of basic knowledge, and
- applying that knowledge with their team to significant and challenging problems for the remainder of the unit.
This page contains resources that are helpful to managing a Team-Based Learning classroom, and provides samples for those who are transitioning from a traditional course to a Team-Based format. We highly recommend that those teachers who are transitioning to Team-Based Learning use these documents with the aid of a Team-Based Learning text, such as Team-Based Learning edited by Michaelsen, Knight, and Fink (2002) [see ABC-CLIO website OR Amazon.com] or an article, such as "Team-Based Learning in Law" by Sophie Sparrow and Margaret McCabe.
Forming and Managing Teams
- Sample Team Formation Survey
- Sample Team Contribution Guidelines
- Sample Firm Sign In Sheets
- Formative Feedback Form
- Final Team Point Assessment
- Sample TBL Syllabus Language
- Sample Study Guide Questions
- Sample RAQ Instruction Coversheet
- Sample Readiness Assurance Answer Sheets
- RAQ Answer Aggregator Sample
- Readiness Assurance Appeals Form Sample
- Sample Application
- Team-Based Learning (TBL) Collaborative
- TBL Overview Video (Michael Sweet, University of Texas - Austin)
- Team Dynamics videos (Sophie Sparrow and Margaret Sova McCabe, University of New Hampshire School of Law)
In these two videos law students simulate typical problems in a TBL classroom, with students acting as a "dominator" and a "social loafer." Dominator (view on YouTube)
“Developing a Skills and Professionalism Curriculum: Process and Product,” 41 University of Toledo Law Review 327 (2010) (co-authored with Earl Martin).
- A Survey of Law School Curricula: 2002-2010(Editor, Catherine L. Carpenter, 2012; see Executive Summary)
Serving as a follow up to its predecessor, A Survey of Law School Curricula: 1992-2001, the 2010 survey offers comprehensive empirical data on current law school curricula. In addition to tracking curricula trends, the 2010 Survey results reveal a renewed commitment on the part of faculties to review and revise their curricula to produce practice-ready professionals. (Order the book for $49.95 from the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.) - Principles for Enhancing Legal Education(Gerald Hess, Paula Lustbader, Laurie Zimet) (Learn more and watch video)
Books
- Barbara E. Walvoord, Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments, and General Education (Jossey-Bass, 2010)
- Peggy L. Maki, Assessing for Learning: Building A Sustainable Commitment across the Institution. 2nd edition. (Stylus Publishing, 2010)
- CAP Student-Learning-Outcomes-and-Law-School
Institute conferences
- Summer 2011: Engaging and Assessing Our Students
- April 2014: Assessment Across the curriculum
- April 2016: Responding to the New ABA Standards: Best Practices in Outcomes Assessment
- March 2017: Formative Assessment in Large Classes
Websites
A rubric is a set of detailed written criteria used to assess student performance. Some rubrics are very detailed and used to score student performance, others are more generic and can be given to students in advance to show how their work will be evaluated. Rubrics can be used for almost any variety of assessment, including papers, exams, portfolios, clinics, documents, group work, graphics, and presentations. They can be used for formative (ungraded) assessments, as well as summative (graded) assessments and self-assessments.
Feel free to use and modify the sample rubrics below to help your students learn.
Articles
Simpson, Sandra L. "Riding the Carousel: Making Assessment a Learning Loop through Continuous Use of Grading Rubrics," 6 Canadian Legal Education Annual Review 35 (2011). [Read full text (1.4 MB PDF)]
Sample Rubrics
Civil Complaint
Client Letter
Clinic
- Assessment for General Practice (Gonzaga)
- Competencies Chart (Sparrow)
- Initial Client Interview, 2010 (Gonzaga)
- Performance Competencies Rubric (Sparrow)
Legal Skills I
Legal Skills II
Legal Writing
Oral Argument
Property
Remedies
- Final Exam Grading Rubric-Content, 2010 (Sparrow)
- Final Exam Grading Rubric-Content, 2011 (Sparrow)
- Final Exam Grading Rubric-Fill in Form, 2010 (Sparrow)
- Final Exam Grading Rubric-Fill in Form, 2011 (Sparrow)
- Scoring Rubric (Sparrow)
- Team Assessment Rubric-Damages Group Presentation (Sparrow)
Torts
- Final Exam Grading Rubric-Content (Sparrow)
- Final Exam Grading Rubric-Content/Skills (Sergienko)
- Group Presentation Rubric (Sparrow)
- Rubric
- Team Assessment 1-Map (Sparrow)
Writing for Law Practice
Note that Appendices are only for chapters 3-9 and 11.
- Teaching Law by Design 2nd Ed - Appendix 3
- Teaching Law by Design 2nd Ed - Appendix 4
- Teaching Law by Design 2nd Ed - Appendix 5
- Teaching Law by Design 2nd Ed - Appendix 6
- Teaching Law by Design 2nd Ed - Appendix 7
- Teaching Law by Design 2nd Ed - Appendix 8
- Teaching Law by Design 2nd Ed - Appendix 9
- Teaching Law by Design 2nd Ed - Appendix 11
- American Bar Association
- American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Professionals (AACRAO)
- Association of American Law Schools
- Association of Academic Support Educators
- Association of Legal Writing Directors
- Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI)
- Center for Engaged Learning in the Law
- Center for Transactional Law and Practice
- International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Legal Writing Institute
- National Association for Law Placement (NALP)
- National Judicial College
- Practising Law Institute
- Stone Soup Project
- Team-Based Learning Collaborative