Conference on New Ideas for Experienced Teachers

June 9–13, 2001
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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Larry C. Farmer, School of Law, Brigham Young University

DYNAMIC TRANSCRIPTS

Underlying the instructional method described in this section is the assumption that interviewing and counseling (“counseling”) schema development is facilitated when students, who are being introduced to new counseling concepts, are also provided with timely and convenient access to illustrative lawyer-client exchanges. The dynamic transcript method was developed to provide students with this type of access to lawyer-client consultations. Dynamic transcripts are annotated transcripts of lawyer-client consultations that contain links to streaming audio or video files of the consultation and to link-specific commentary.

Currently, I structure dynamic transcripts in three ways: (1) as a complete consultation presented in dynamic transcript format; (2) as a complete consultation presented in a graphical format with image-map links to targeted points in an associated dynamic transcript; and (3) as a hypertext document with links to dynamic transcript segments from different consultations that illustrate a particular counseling skill or concept. The first two formats allow students to experience the application of counseling concepts in the context of a complete consultation. The third format is used to present examples of specific counseling concepts across a number of consultations.

Dynamic transcripts are flexible learning tools that can be used both to facilitate classroom discussion and enrich out-of-class assignments.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS LINKED TO STREAMING VIDEO

Another instructional use for streaming video is to provide a student with a performance evaluation that is linked to the student’s streaming video file of the exercise. For each recorded exercise, I prepare an HTML document that contains chronologically ordered comments regarding various aspects of the student’s performance in the exercise. These comments are linked to relevant entry points in the student’s streaming video file for the exercise.

I have found that review sessions with students are more efficient and have greater impact because I can immediately play relevant exercise segments to illustrate the observations made in the performance evaluation document. Also, I provide each student with a CD containing the student’s streaming video file for the exercise and the linked evaluation file. This allows each student the opportunity to conveniently evaluate exercise performance in light of the instructor’s feedback.

In order to provide this type of feedback, student exercises must be recorded and then converted to a streaming video format. With the right combination of HTML editors and supporting media files, it is possible to create the evaluation document, including pinpoint links to the student’s streaming video file, in about the same amount of time as it takes to simply review the exercise on a video monitor.