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Anecdotes from A Collaborative Classroom: Teaching the Intersection of Litigation and Transactional Law
University of Detroit Mercy Online Journal (2021)
  • Jean Steadman, Charleston School of Law
  • Jay Paskan, Charleston School of Law
Abstract
Teaching a law school class can be an isolating experience, and that was true well before COVID-19. There might be other people in the classroom with you, but the whole point of the classroom setting is to convey information from the brain of the professor to the brains of the students. More often than not, it is a one-way transmission of knowledge. Sure, there are situations where a student asks a pointed question that fosters an intelligent discussion of the subject matter, but the knowledge comes from a single source. For anyone that did not start off in academia, it is clear that this unilateral exchange is nothing like the practice of law in the real world where a more collaborative approach is required. To better replicate a practical law office setting, we set out to create a class that would allow for collaboration, over pontification. Our objective was to show the students how bouncing ideas off one another and relying on both professors’ and students’ expertise allows for better critical analysis of legal issues, problem solving, and a more realistic application of the theory that they are tasked with learning in law school. 
Keywords
  • Collaborative classroom,
  • Collaborative teaching,
  • Legal education,
  • pedagogy
Publication Date
Fall October 1, 2021
Citation Information
Jay Paskan & Jean Steadman, Anecdotes from A Collaborative Classroom: Teaching the Intersection of Litigation and Transactional Law, 99 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. Online 1.