Teaching the Teachers
Teaching the Internet generation of law students requires a re-examination of teaching styles, of communication strategies, and of the context in which research is undertaken. The importance of legal research skills in practice and scholarship is well recognized; the question of best practices for effective legal research instruction is open to discussion. Teaching the Teachers: Effective Instruction in Legal Research will feature distinguished speakers from the judiciary, the academy, and practice. Conference programs will focus on integrating technology into the classroom, context and teaching, courtroom and classroom communication, and the instructional role of the library and librarians.
In 2006, the National Conference of Bar Examiners announced an initiative to explore the development of a stand-alone component of the national bar exam that would test legal research methodology and skills. Implementation of a legal research component of the bar exam would necessarily increase demand for legal research instruction.
Informed by these events, Tarlton's fall 2007 conference will include prominent lawyers and judges, law professors, and law librarians as speakers. Presentations will focus on widely applicable principles of effective teaching and communication, rather than on the nuts and bolts of legal research. Speakers will explore diverse topics, including the use of technology in the classroom to engage the emerging generation of students, the role of librarians as teachers, what it means to be an effective teacher, and the impact of ongoing changes in legal publishing.
The conference begins the process of preparing members of the profession to teach the next generation of law students in a time of enormous changes in information discovery, content and delivery. Join the Tarlton Law Library this coming October as we present Teaching the Teachers: Effective Instruction in Legal Research.
Printable lists of speakers and registrants are available for download: