A great deal of scholarship to share since the blog's bar exam break:
1. Jennifer A. Gundlach (Hofstra Law) & Jessica Santangelo (Hofstra University), Understanding the Metacognitive "Space" and Its Implications for Law Students' Learning.
From the abstract:
This article builds upon our prior work, contributing to the growing literature addressing development of metacognitive skills in law students. Metacognitive skills include knowledge of strategies that impact thinking and learning, and regulation of thinking and learning related to specific learning tasks. Metacognitive skills are important for learning in law school as well as for successful lawyering.
Herein we describe an empirical study of first-year law students that addresses four primary research questions: (1) What level of metacognitive knowledge and regulation do law students demonstrate when they enter law school? (2) Do law students’ metacognitive knowledge and regulation change during the first semester of law school? (3) Is there a relationship between law students’ academic performance and metacognitive knowledge and regulation? (4) Does instructional intervention impact law students’ metacognitive knowledge and regulation?
We found that most students enter law school lacking metacognitive knowledge but with some metacognitive regulation skills. The majority of students ended their first semester with knowledge. However, metacognitive knowledge was not associated with course performance nor was there an effect of instructional intervention on metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive regulation, specifically use of strategies identified as most effective in law school, was associated with course performance, as was overall level of metacognitive regulation. While there was no effect of instructional intervention on the level of metacognitive regulation, intervention did result in more students reporting use of strategies such as fact patterns, hypotheticals, and working practice problems, strategies supporting both success in law school and successful lawyering.
2. Rory Bahadur (Washburn) & Kris Franklin (New York Law School), Directed Question: A Non-Socratic Dialogue about Non-Socratic Teaching.
From the abstract:
Legal pedagogy can change for the better.
Despite frequent criticism of Socratic and case-method teaching, the core teaching in most foundational law classes has been remarkably stagnant. But in a time of turmoil and reexamination of the traditions we have all inherited, there is also opportunity for meaningful adaptation to the modern era.
This Article introduces Directed Questions methodology as an alternative to the traditional teaching models currently operating in most law schools. Directed reading pedagogy allows legal educators to seamlessly transition to a modern and effective pedagogy incorporating best practices which recognizes that fostering inclusion and the success of diverse students is mandatory in post-Langdellian legal education. The Article takes the form of an extended discourse between two experienced legal educators, and in that way simultaneously explains and partially exemplifies the Directed Questions learning method.
(Louis Schulze, FIU Law)
