The sources indicated in red are given in full at the end of the Tool Box. Many of the ideas expressed herein come from the works referred to in this portfolio; references are provided only where the texts contain further useful information.
 
 

Ideas to remember; Considerations to be borne in mind

• When stuck for an idea: Look at your course objectives for inspiration.
• What critical skills do students need to have to be able to learn the course content?
• Perryís scheme of cognitive and ethical development indicates that different teaching strategies may be appropriate at different stages of the course. Avoid challenging students too hard too fast.
• Different students learn best in different ways (Voices pp. 101 et seq., Hess pp. 8-10)
• Promote active learning: get students doing the course skills. Learning involves the construction of knowledge, not merely the transfer of information. Visual representations of schemata assist in the construction of knowledge.
• Use the best tool for the job at hand: Eagar; Johnstone, pp. 52-62; Quiet Revolution p. 210, Quiet Revolution pp. 282-288) bearing in mind the potentials and their pitfalls of each method.
• Use Kolb's cycle to enhance course content. See Sunicki; Voices p. 124; Quiet Revolution p. 79; and Davis p. 187. For hints on encouraging reflective observation, see Voices pp. 137-138 (enlightenment assignment), Hess pp. 73-74; 224 (admit slips).
• Use Bloom's taxonomy to enhance course content. Use Crooks's 3 stage "summary" of Bloom (Davis p. 242). For examples of Bloom applied to law, see Quiet Revolution pp. 161-3; Hess p. 293-7
• Pick cases and examples which relate to as many of the courseís teaching objectives as possible.
• Chose materials which speak in as many voices and empower as many different groups as possible (see Johnstone, pp. 75 et seq.).
• Where possible, use Computer Aided Instruction: there is empirical evidence of its effectiveness.
• Consider appointing student liason/advisory teams to provide feedback on how the students feel the course is going.

Lecturing

• Organize lecture to facilitate students acquiring good sets of notes (See Davis, p. 265).
• Grab the audience's attention at the beginning of the class.
• Provide roadmap for students at beginning of lecture.
• Put lecture in context.
• Recap previous lecture or class.
• Use examples.
• Create a vicarious experience for audience.
• Integrate lecture with other methods.
• Schedule breaks.
• Use puppets to facilitate the assumption of different roles (professor to model first).
• Relate something from current lecture back to something from previous lectures.

• Use One Minute Papers: muddiest point, two main points of lecture, how did your thinking change, any question? Use Bloom's Taxonomy and Kolb's Cycle to formulate questions. Increase the level of difficulty of papers as course progresses. (See Davis, pp. 349-351)
• Evaluate effectiveness at end of each class: What works for this particular group of students with this specific course material?
• Use class discussion to get feedback on how well the students are learning.
• Ask students to evaluate your teaching in mid-course so that corrections can be made.
• See assessment from a fellow instructor (peer-pairing).
• Reflect on mid-course and final assessment to improve course.

Small Groups

• Groups develop through different stages; use techniques accordingly (See Voices, p. 202, 247).
• Let groups form themselves or use learner types to form groups
• Try: Think, Write, Pair, Discuss (Voices, p. 200)
• Try Buzz Groups, Pyramiding, and Brainstorming (Quiet Revolution, pp. 296-300)
• Use a variety of discussion, devil's advocacy, debate among students, student led discussions ...
• Try role playing to bring case studies alive.
• For class participation, require students to indicate that they have done the readings (See Hess, pp. 224, 335)
• Establish ground rules (See Davis, pp. 64 et seq.)
• Use Knoop's Problem Solving Model (Kreber, p. 223).
• Use Bloom's Taxonomy to keep discussion moving forward (Davis, p. 84)
• Use Student-Centred Problem-Based Learning (Kurtz et al., Quiet Revolution p. 94)
• Be aware of students' emotional development along Affective Taxonomy (See Quiet Revolution pp. 168-169)
• Use game-show format: e.g. Hollywood Squares.
• Integrate student presentations into the course.

• Schedule one assignment to require oral presentation during instructor's office hours.
• Use writing as a learning activity. Evaluate at several stages of the writing process.
• Give feedback along with assessment; make evaluation serve a learning as well as a gate-keeping function.
• Harness evaluation to assist in the realization of course objectives.

B. Gross Davis, Tools for Teaching, (San Francisco CA; Josey-Bass, 2001)

J. Eagar, The Right Tool for the Job: The Effective Use of Pedagogical Methods in Legal Education, (1997) 32 Gonz. L. Rev. 389

G.F. Hess & S. Friedland, Techniques for Teaching Law, (Durham, N.C.; Carolina Academic Press, 1999)

R. Johnstone, Printed Teaching Materials: A New Approach for Law Teachers, (Sydney, Aust.; Cavendish Publishing (Australia) Pty Ltd., 1996)

C. Kreber, Learning Experientially through Case Studies? A Conceptual Analysis, (2001) 6 Teaching in Higher Education, 217

S. Kurtz, M. Wylie, & N. Gold, Problem-Based Learning: An Alternative Approach to Legal Education, (1990 ) 13 The Dalhousie Law Journal 797

M. Le Brun and R. Johnstone, The Quiet Revolution: Improving Student Learning in Law, (North Ryde, N.S.W.; The Law Book Company Limited, 1994)

M.D. Svinicki & N.M. Dixon, The Kolb Model Modified for Classroom Activities, 35 College Teacher141

Voices from the Classroom: Reflections on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, J. Newton et al. (eds), (Toronto; Garamond Press, 2001)