|
All of us want to
make the learning experience enjoyable, memorable and fulfilling for
our students. For me, it took the students to create a class that
accomplished the above.
This is a story of how one class, Business Administration 120 (Business
Law) evolved from a class where students were overwhelmed and fearful of
taking the class to where students are “wait listed” and demanding to be
enrolled in it.
I taught my first Business Law class in fall 1997. This is a great class
designed to introduce students to our American legal system, including
civil law, criminal law, contracts, employment relationships, ethics,
and legal reasoning.
Students are provided information that will benefit many of them for the
rest of their lives, and for a number of students, it will belife
changing.
My teaching style in 1997 went by the book: I lectured my class the way
I was lectured to in law school. But there was a problem—a big problem.
The problem was that this class can be boring for many students
unfamiliar with legal concepts and language. Law is about the meaning of
terms and many of the words used are complex. For many students,
understanding the language of the law is similar to learning a foreign
language, for example, learning terms such as “res ipsa loquitur," "scienter,"
"obligee" and “in pari delicto."
Another example of the complexity of legal language is a case we study
in the text, which discusses a twenty page real contract that was
rendered invalid because of one word that was used in one sentence in
the contract. The word was "may" and the contract failed. If the word
"must" had been used in its place, the contract would have been
enforceable! Nine out of ten students will tell you it is a struggle to
understand and absorb the material and in some situations even stay
awake in this class.
I know that a number of you teach classes that are more difficult and
complex than this class and understand that teaching a difficult class
presents great learning challenges. So what was the solution? For me, it
took my students to solve the problem.
I started including an evaluation that students filled out to tell me
what they liked and disliked about the class and how they would improve
it. Thirty-seven Business Law classes and 1,500-plus students later, a
lot has changed from the first class I taught in 1997 to my most recent
Business Law class in second summer session 2008.
Students are now "involved," very involved, in this class. From the
first day, I have a student activity called "getting to know you" in
which each student talks to the student in the next seat and then tells
the class a few interesting things about that student. Next I have
students sign up to present a legal case in class that appears in the
text. I also provide students with a copy of the Los Angeles County
Superior Court Jury Instruction book and have them write a report about
what they learned from that book.
Students also have an extra credit activity where they attend a Superior
Court proceeding and write a report about their experience. Some
students have written about their own personal court cases. The
highlight of the class is the Mock Trial. The trial is based on an
actual case, only the names are changed. Students get together in two
trial teams and spend their time outside of class preparing for the
trial. Then they present an actual trial using the law they have
learned. Students not participating on the trial teams are jurors,
select a foreperson, and render the decision for the trial.
One major comment about the trial from students is “Why couldn't we do
more mock trials?” Other student comments include: “The trial brought
to life the concepts we learned in class," "The trial was like a summary
of the whole course," “My favorite part of the class was the court
trial," “The trial made the class come alive and that it was a very
memorable learning experience.”
Thus, you can see that as instructors, we have a choice: We can teach
the class by the book. Or we can create a special learning experience
for our students that they will never forget.
Of course, to do this takes a lot of extra effort and time, for which we
are not financially compensated. However, we are compensated with great
memories, experiences, student appreciation and a sense of
accomplishment that we will have forever.
& |