"Seven Principles for Good Practice in Legal Education" was the title and focus of the Institute's fifth annual summer conference, which was held on July 10-11, 1998, at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. The written materials from that conference appear as "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Legal Education" in the Journal of Legal Education (vol. 49, no. 3, (September 1999)). The article applies the principles to legal education, explores their implications, and describes practical methods to implement them in the law school classroom. The following is a summary of the development of the Seven Principles and the assessment inventories tailored by the conference presenters to apply directly to legal education. The conference presenters were Susan Apel (Vermont Law School), Okianer Christian Dark (University of Richmond School of Law), R. Lawrence Dessem (Mercer University School of Law), David Dominguez (Brigham Young School of Law), Gerald Hess (Gonzaga University School of Law) , Terri LeClercq (University of Texas School of Law), and Paula Lustbader (Seattle University School of Law).
Development of Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.
The seven principles of good practice in legal education are modeled on seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education. The undergraduate principles were derived from decades of research on teaching and learning in college. The principles assert that good practice in legal education:
- Encourages student-faculty contact;
- Encourages cooperation among students;
- Encourages active learning;
- Gives prompt feedback;
- Emphasizes time on task;
- Communicates high expectations; and
- Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.
During the early 1980s, concern about the quality of instruction in colleges and universities gave rise to a series of events that culminated in the development of seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. In the mid-1980s, the American Association of Higher Education (AAHE) published several reports and sponsored a series of conferences on the improvement of undergraduate education. Two of the AAHE board members, Zelda Gamson and Arthur Chickering, embarked on a project to develop a statement of principles to guide the quest for quality undergraduate education.
The final version of the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education was published as the lead article in the March 1987 issue of the AAHE Bulletin. Over the next eighteen months, over 150,000 copies of the Seven Principles were ordered from The Johnson Foundation. Subsequently, a group of educators developed the Faculty Inventory, Student Inventory, and Institutional Inventory, instruments to provide teachers, students, and administrators the means to assess how their courses and campuses reflect the Seven Principles. Tens of thousands of copies of the Inventories have been distributed during the last decade.
The Seven Principles and the Inventories
"Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever" by Arthur W. Chickering and Stephen C. Ehrmann
Teaching Law: Seven Guiding Principles
In 1987, leading teachers and scholars in the movement to improve higher education in the U.S. developed the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education." The Seven Principles were based on findings from decades of research on teaching and learning in college. The Seven Principles have greatly influenced theory and practice in higher education. More than 150,000 reprints were requested within six months of the publication of the Seven Principles.
In 1989, a task force of educators developed the Faculty Inventory and Institutional Inventory, instruments to allow teachers and schools to assess how their courses and campuses reflect the Seven Principles. Two books were published that review the research behind the Seven Principles and that describe practical applications of the principles in college: Arthur W. Chickering & Zelda F. Gamson, Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education (1991); Judith A Sturnick et al., The Seven Principles in Action (Susan Rickey Hatfield ed., 1995).
The following descriptions of the principles come from The Seven Principles in Action.
Principle 1: Good Practice Encourages Student-Faculty Contact.
Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of class is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.
Principle 2: Good Practice Encourages Cooperation Among Students.
Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one's own ideas and responding to others' reactions improves
thinking and deepens understanding.
Principle 3: Good Practice Encourages Active Learning.
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes and listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.
Principle 4: Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback.
Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses. In getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points during college, and at the end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.
Principle 5: Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task.
Time plus energy equals learning. Efficient time-management skills are critical for students and professionals alike. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty. How an institution defines time expectations for students, faculty, administrators, and other professional staff can establish the basis for high performance for all.
Principle 6: Good Practice Communicates High Expectations.
Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for everyone - for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to expert themselves, and for the bright and motivated. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high expectations of themselves and make extra efforts.
Principle 7: Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning.
There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to college. Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich in hands-on experience may not do so will with theory. Students need opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learning in ways that do not come so easily.
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