Teaching & Learning Resources: Designing a Course

This workbook guides both new and experienced teachers in the steps of course design and through a process of self-reflection and decision-making, so that they can be more effective teachers. It begins by helping teachers identify the primary goals and missions of their law schools, their beliefs about legal education, and their beliefs about teaching the law. Randall then helps teachers explore the factors that influence the decisions they will make during course planning, the sources they will use for teaching advice, and their overall approaches to their courses.

Applying the research on teaching and learning, this book guides both new and experienced law teachers through the process of designing and teaching a course. The book addresses how to plan a course; design a syllabus; plan individual class sessions; engage and motivate students; use a variety of teaching techniques; assess student learning; and how to be a life-long learner as a teacher.

Professors Sophie Sparrow, Gerry Hess, and Michael Hunter Schwartz, three leaders in the teaching and learning movement in legal education, have collaborated to offer a new book designed to synthesize the latest research on teaching and learning for adjunct law professors. The book begins with basic principles of teaching and learning theory, provides insights into how law students experience traditional law teaching, and then guides law teachers through the entire process of teaching a course.