Legal Education in the Age of Cognitive Science and Advanced Classroom Technology

Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No. 94

Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies Working Paper No. 63

47 Pages Posted: 22 Aug 2007

See all articles by Deborah Jones Merritt

Deborah Jones Merritt

Ohio State University (OSU) - Michael E. Moritz College of Law

Date Written: August 2007

Abstract

Cognitive scientists have made major advances in mapping the process of learning, but legal educators know little about this work. Similarly, law professors have engaged only modestly with new learning technologies like PowerPoint, classroom response systems, podcasts, and web-based instruction. This article addresses these gaps by examining recent research in cognitive science, demonstrating how those insights apply to a sample technology (PowerPoint), and exploring the broader implications of both cognitive science and new classroom technologies for legal education. The article focuses on three fields of cognitive science inquiry: the importance of right brain learning, the limits of working memory, and the role of immediacy in education. Those three areas are fundamental to understanding both the effective use of new classroom technologies and the constraints of more traditional teaching methods.

Keywords: teaching, law students

JEL Classification: A20, K00

Suggested Citation

Merritt, Deborah Jones, Legal Education in the Age of Cognitive Science and Advanced Classroom Technology (August 2007). Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No. 94, Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies Working Paper No. 63, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1007800 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1007800

Deborah Jones Merritt (Contact Author)

Ohio State University (OSU) - Michael E. Moritz College of Law ( email )

55 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
United States
614-247-7933 (Phone)
614-292-4868 (Fax)

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