Building on Best Practices: Transforming Legal Education in a Changing World, Deborah Maranville, Lisa Radtke Bliss, Carolyn Wilkes Kaas, & Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, eds.
A follow-up from two classic critiques of legal education Roy Stuckey’s Best Practices for Legal Education and the Carnegie Foundation’s Educating Lawyers, the text is directed largely toward full-time law school faculty and administrators. Several chapters are useful for adjunct faculty, however, especially those teaching in law clinics, externships, and alternative clinical models. The book identifies ten essential areas of legal education, together with guidance on what and how to teach them.
Teaching Law by Design for Adjuncts 2nd Edition, Gerald Hess, Michael Schwartz, & Sophie Sparrow.
A compact but thorough guide to all aspects of teaching law. The book’s suggestions are grounded in educational research and apply a “backwards design” approach. That approach begins with deciding what the students should be able to know, do, or believe at the end of the course and then back-tracks to design a course to get them there. The book provides practical suggestions on planning a course: designing a syllabus, selecting course materials, and planning course sessions. Techniques for teaching focus on engagement and motivation and diverse teaching techniques. Finally, the text provides suggestions on evaluating student learning, including how to design and grade an exam. The book largely addresses classroom teaching but includes materials on experiential learning, lasting learning, and troubleshooting.
Teaching the Law School Curriculum, Steven Friedland & Gerald Hess, eds.
A compilation of tips and techniques arranged by subject matter and covering most required courses in law schools, as well as clinical coursework.
So You Want to be an Adjunct Law Professor? The Process, Perils, and Potential, Catherine A. Lemmer & Michael J. Robak.
This article details best practices for attorneys interested in adjunct professor work. It provides suggestions for professors to incorporate in their adjunct teaching to enhance their teaching experience and create a productive learning environment for students.
Statement of Good Practices by Law Professors in the Discharge of Their Ethical and Professional Responsibilities, Association of American Law Schools.
The Statement of Good Practices in the AALS Handbook details how law professors honor the professional ethics of law and the ethics of the institution at which they teach.
Strategies and Techniques of Law School Teaching, Howard E. Katz & Kevin Francis O’Neill.
The book provides a catalog of tips and strategies for teaching a traditional doctrinal course, focusing on dialectic methods.
Symposium on Seven Principles for Good Practice in Legal Education, 49 J. LEGAL EDUC.
A compilation of seven articles focusing on good practice in legal education, including a questionnaire for faculty reflection. An excellent overview of the basics of great teaching. Available through online legal research services such as Hein Online, JSTOR, Westlaw, and Lexis.
Susan B. Apel, Principle 1: Good Practice Encourages Student-Faculty Contact
David Dominguez, Principle 2: Good Practice Encourages Cooperation Among Students
Gerald F. Hess, Principle 3: Good Practice Encourages Active Learning
Terri LeClercq, Principle 4: Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback
Lawrence R. Dessem, Principle 5: Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task
Christian Okianer Dark, Principle 6: Good Practice Communicates High Expectations
Paula Lustbader, Principle 7: Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
Faculty Inventories
A follow-up article – The Seven Principles for Good Practice in [Asynchronous Online] Legal Education, Kenneth R. Swift, (2018) – provides suggestions for applying the principles to online teaching.