::Institute-Funded Research on Law Teaching

From 1992 to 1996, the Institute awarded grants for research on law teaching. The grant program ended in 1996. The following is a description of the projects the Institute supported with grant awards:

• A Study of the Use of Peer Teachers in Law Schools -- by Professors Julie Cheslik and Barbara Glesner Fines (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

• The grantees surveyed law schools about peer teachers (student mentors, tutors, teaching assistants), including their selection, responsibilities, supervision, and effectiveness. The products are an article reporting the results of the general survey and an article that addresses a separate survey of law schools which use teaching assistants in legal research and writing programs.

• Understanding the Relationship Between Law Students' Learning Styles and Law Students' Performance -- by Professor Vernellia Randall (University of Dayton)

• The grantee administered two instruments to first-year law students to identify their learning styles. Then the grantee developed and administered two more instruments to identify students' study strategies and habits. The project produced three comprehensive articles analyzing the relationship between learning styles, study strategies, and success in the first year of law school. These articles are (1) First-Year Law Students' Study Behavior, (2) The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Law Students and Performance, and (3) Law Students' Learning and Study Strategies (LSLS).

• Legal Reasoning: Managing Coherence in Problem Solving Discourse--A Comparative Study of Forward and Backward Reasoning in Medicine and Law -- by Professor J. P. Ogilvy (The Catholic University of America), Professor Anthony Palasota (Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law), and Carmen Wong, M.D. (Central Texas Medical Foundation)

• This project uses an experimental design to study the reasoning skills of doctors, lawyers, medical students, and law students. The product will create a model of legal reasoning that will help diagnose students' problems with legal analysis.

• Law Faculty Seminar: Educating the Educators -- by Professors Louise Harmon and Deborah Post (Touro College)

• This project grew from a faculty retreat where a professional educator presented information on student learning and effective teaching strategies. Originally designed to produce an article describing the faculty's efforts to incorporate adult education theory and techniques into their courses, the project evolved into the book, CULTIVATING INTELLIGENCE: POWER , LAW AND THE POLITICS OF TEACHING (New York University Press, 1996).

• Surrogate Legal Education: An Evaluation of Law School Farmout Programs -- by Professor Charles Bubany (Texas Tech University)

  This project will analyze law school externship programs. It includes a literature survey of reports and commentary on externship programs, an empirical review of the externship programs of eight Texas law schools, and recommendations about the future of externship programs.

• Law School Teaching Styles: Conversations with Law Students (A Television Program) -- by Professor Larry Dubin (University of Detroit-Mercy)

• This project produced a videotape of various teaching styles (for example, Socratic, lecture, role playing). For each teaching style, the tape includes a law professor privately discussing the technique and the objectives for the class, portions of the actual class, and student reactions to the teaching method. Read more about the tape, A Day in the Life of Law School Teaching.

• Teaching Skills Through the Substantive Law: Integration of the Principles of the "MacCrate Report" -- by Professors Leslie Garfield and Michelle Simon (Pace University)

• This project had two components. First, it researched and evaluated how law schools teach writing skills through substantive courses. Second, it produced a comprehensive teaching manual for teaching writing through substantive courses. The manual describes the benefits of this teaching method and contains model syllabi, sample problems, and model answers.

• Using Alternative Learning Techniques in Legal Education -- by Professor Steven Friedland (Nova Law Center)

• A Comparative Study of Lawyer Satisfaction with the Profession Based on Law School Ethics and Skills Teaching -- by Professor James Moliterno (The College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law)

• This project involves a survey of graduates of several law schools to determine their satisfaction with and preparation for the legal profession. This survey assesses the effects of William and Mary's comprehensive skills and ethics program.

• A Primer on Assessment for American Law Schools -- by Professor Gregory Munro (University of Montana School of Law)

• The grantee wrote an article to be used as a blueprint by law schools interested in implementing a comprehensive assessment program. It sets forth the structure for formulating missions, outcomes, and programs of assessment for the twenty-first century.  In 2000 the Institute published Professor Munro's book, Outcomes Assessment for Law Schools.

• What We Talk About When We Talk About War -- by Professor Barbara Stark (University of Tennessee College of Law)

• The product of this grant project is an article which explains how hands-on, practical experience can be achieved in teaching international law on the use of force ("without expensive and dangerous field trips").

• Indian Law in the Required Civil Procedure Curriculum -- by Professor Cynthia Ford (The University of Montana School of Law)

  This project is designed to help address the lack of knowledge of Indian law and issues among most American law students, particularly about the existence and role of tribal courts, by encouraging the inclusion of basic Indian law concepts in required Civil Procedure courses. Professor Ford developed teaching materials for a two-hour segment on tribal courts for use in a Civil Procedure course. For a copy of this teaching packet, contact Professor Ford.

• Upper-Class Writing: Course Requirements, Teaching Training, and Feedback Materials -- by Professor Lissa Griffin (Pace University)

• Upper-class writing programs are an important part of the law school curriculum. Unfortunately, these upper-class programs usually receive less attention than their first-year counterparts. Professor Griffin developed an upper-class writing curriculum and accompanying teaching materials that can be used by experienced writing teachers and by other teachers whose courses or seminars are used to satisfy upper-class writing requirements.

• Boston City Hospital/Northeastern University School of Law Domestic Violence Advocacy Project Emergency Department Project (BCH/DVAP) -- by Professor Cristina Poulter (Northeastern University School of Law)

• In a novel collaboration between the Emergency Department at Boston City Hospital and the Domestic Violence Advocacy Project at Northeastern University School of Law, staff and students from both institutions are conducting an interdisciplinary research, education, and services project. The project produced a teaching protocol of client-centered education. The protocol includes a comprehensive, written description of the project and evaluation of its results; a curriculum for training students to conduct open-ended, client-centered interviews; and a curriculum for training supervising attorneys.