Identifies the strategies used by, and the traits of, twenty-six of the best law professors in the U.S., noting how their teaching methods enable students to achieve an exceptional learning experience.
Schwartz (law, U. of Arkansas at Little Rock), Hess, and Sparrow offer a helpful and unique guide for law instructors that analyzes the methods, strategies, and personal characteristics of the best law professors. They conducted a four-year study of 26 professors from law schools in the US, observing each, interviewing their students, and examining interview transcripts, student evaluations, testimonial letters, and teaching materials. After outlining the study's methodology, biographical information on each professor, and the results of a foundational study of exceptional learning in the law-school context, they delineate the personal qualities and attitudes of the best professors, how they relate to students, their expectations of students and themselves, how they prepare to teach, how they engage students in and outside of the classroom, how they provide feedback and assessment, and what lessons students learned, as well as how to use the book to promote good teaching. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
What makes a great law professor? The first study of its kind, What the Best Law Teachers Do identifies the methods, strategies, and personal traits of professors whose students achieve exceptional learning. This pioneering book will be of interest to any instructor seeking concrete, proven techniques for helping students succeed.
What the Best Law Teachers Do introduces readers to twenty-six professors from law schools across the United States. These instructors are renowned for their exacting standards: they set expectations high, while also making course requirements--and their belief that their students can meet them--clear from the outset. They demonstrate professional behavior and tell students to approach class as they would their future professional life: by being as prepared, polished, and gracious as possible. And they prepare themselves for class in depth, even when they have taught the course for years.
The best law professors understand that the little things matter. They start class on time and stay afterward to answer questions. They learn their students' names and respond promptly to emails. These instructors are all tough--but they are also committed, creative, and compassionate mentors. With its close-to-the-ground accounts of exceptional educators in action, What the Best Law Teachers Do offers insights into effective pedagogy that transcend the boundaries of legal education.
This pioneering book is the first to identify the methods, strategies, and personal traits of law professors whose students achieve exceptional learning. Modeling good behavior through clear, exacting standards and meticulous preparation, these instructors know that little things also count--starting on time, learning names, responding to emails.
