ACADEMIA AND BUSINESS COLLABORATE TO
IMPROVE LEGAL EDUCATION;
Students Give ‘Thumbs Up’ To Web-based Study Aids
Chicago, IL – Where there’s a will – and a market need – there’s a way. That principle can guide successful collaboration between academia and business. It’s at work now in the law school market, where a coming generation of Web-based study aids – developed in partnership by academic and business interests - is playing well to today’s Internet-savvy students.
In this case, the business collaborator provided expertise in market research, product development and software development, and the academics provided the teaching experience. The goal was to develop innovative tools that would improve the quality and time efficiency of legal education. The result is a double success, according to research recently conducted by Law Study Systems ™.
The collaboration produced a tutorial product that satisfies the unmet need for an interactive study aid that teaches and reinforces legal rules, and a test preparation product that satisfies the unmet need for an interactive study aid that develops the skills that are needed for the unique task of writing effective answers to law-school essay exams.
The research surveyed 150 first-year students who were drawn evenly from three schools (Washburn; Hamline; and Chicago-Kent) that represent much of the law school landscape. The research asked half of the students to review a Web-based tutorial study aid and the other half to review a Web-based test preparation study aid.
The survey results are clear and convincing across the board: Students see the products as offering significant help in reinforcing the transfer of knowledge, developing legal reasoning skills and test taking skills, and enhancing self-confidence.
Law Study Systems ™ developed the products in collaboration with Professor Richard Warner and with Senior Lecturer and Assistant Dean Stephen D. Sowle, both of the Chicago-Kent College of Law and both long-time passionate believers in the potential for using technology to improve legal education.
According to Jon M. Garon, Dean of the Hamline University School of Law, “The results are noteworthy for a couple of reasons. One, they reflect students’ expectations of obtaining significant academic benefits within their doctrinal studies, which would complement the effectiveness of their clinical activities. And two, they suggest a timely and even broader use of Web-based products and solutions, using principles of ‘precision learning.’ The potential for using technology to cost-effectively enhance educational outcomes across the law school community is virtually limitless.”