The AALS Poster Project: Team-Based Learning in law

February 4, 2010

Sophie Sparrow and Margaret Sova McCabe presented the poster Team-Based Learning in law (Download McCabe Sparrow TBL Poster):

Professor Sparrow is a professor at The Franklin Pierce Law Center, where she teaches Legal Skills I & II, Remedies, and Torts. In January, 2004, she won the Inaugural Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching Professionalism, sponsored by the American Bar Association and Conference of Chief Justices. She has published articles such as Practicing Civility in the Legal Writing Course: Helping Law Students Learn Professionalism 13 Leg. Writing 113 (2008), What Helps Law Professors Develop as Teachers? — An Empirical Study, 14 Widener L. Rev. 149 (2008) (with Gerald F. Hess), and Uncovering the Student Perspective – Six Questions to Ask Before Class 1 Amer. Just. L. Rev. 901 (2008).

Professor McCabe is also a professor at The Franklin Pierce Law Center, where she teaches Legal Skills I & II and Food Law. She is a moot court board advisor and had continued her general practice from before she became a professor on a contract basis, focusing on research and writing projects, particularly in municipal law, land use and civil litigation. She has published articles such as Practice Writing: Do Writing Programs Really Teach Practical Skills?, Phoenix L. Rev. (Fall 2008) (with Amy Vorenberg), Got Controversy? Milk Does, 13 Drake J. Agric. L. 475 (2008), and The Battle of the Bulge: Evaluating Law as a Weapon Against Obesity, 3 Food L. & Pol’y 135 (2007).

Here is their description of the poster:

The co-presenters have used team-based learning in required and elective courses for the past two years. Their classroom and outside research has shown that team-based learning

· Increased student engagement in class;

· Promotes students’ higher-order thinking skills;

· Provides collaboration and professionalism skills;

· Provides students w/immediate feedback on multiple varied assessments;

· Allows professors to cover as much or more material; and

· Is scalable to classes with over 80 students

Team-based learning is a learner-centered teaching strategy designed to promote active engagement and deep learning. Educators have applied the principles of team-based learning for over 30 years, using it in 23 countries in a range of disciplines, including the arts, medicine, and business. In team-based learning, professors first identify core learning objectives, design learning units, and then sequence a series of formative and summative assessments over the semester to engage students at increasingly higher levels of thinking. During the course, students collaborate in permanent diverse teams of 5-7 students. Students earn grades on their individual work, team performance, and their contribution to their teams.

With the use of early assessments and immediate feedback, targeted team in-class problems, and team accountability, teachers can increase students’ depth of knowledge, mastery of skills, and development of professional values. Law professors can use team-based learning to implement positive changes in legal education as recommended by the Carnegie’s Educating Lawyers and Stuckey’s Best Practices for Legal Education.

And you can download a copy of the handout on Team-Based Learning that they presented at AALS by clicking here: Download Handout

-CM