Experiential Learning

Inspiration

• Love of teaching and business
• Connecting learning with the real world
• Wanting to try something new!

Idea

• Design experiential course focused on a complex business transaction
• Cover multiple subject areas
• Expose students to different resources and strategies
• Develop information literacy skills that transfer across subjects, resources, and disciplines

Development

• Ultimate Goal - Experiential Course
• Read, talk to professors, and attend presentations and workshops
• Recognized full realization would take several years
• Course development, like legal research, is an iterative process!

Learning Objectives

• Identify, locate, and use resources across material type, platform, and subject area
• Critically evaluate information
• Transfer knowledge and skills to new situations
• Develop confidence in legal research abilities!

Learning/Communication Styles

• Visual
• Auditory
• Reading/Writing
• Kinesthetic

Instructional Tools

• Readings selected from practice-oriented materials
• Tutorials for various research platforms
• Hands-on exercises
• Legal memorandum

Assessments

• Nongraded Exercises: Preclass quiz on reading and in-class exercise (failure is an option!)
• Graded Assignments: Four take home assignments and final legal memorandum

First Attempt - Key Features

• Multisubject model
• Incorporate real-world readings
• Hands-on exercises, but a bit lecture heavy
• Nice start, but room for improvement!

Take Two

• Actively incorporated startup business theme
• Improved selection of readings
• Created more instructional support content
• Greater emphasis on hands-on experience and multiple assessment/feedback mechanisms

Third Time's a Charm?

• Hone course structure to better teach skills
• Incorporate more "real-world" aspects into class (balancing act)
• Develop exercises and activities which consistently encourage good student interaction
• Learn and share experiences!

Collaborative Discussion

• Sources of inspiration
• Types of instructional material used
• Technology employed
• New/Innovative/Different ideas tried (successful, unsuccessful, and anywhere in between)
• What yielded positive student feedback or contributed to learning