Survey Says--How to Engage Law Students in the Online Learning Environment

Authors

Andrele Brutus St. Val, University of Pittsburgh School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2022

Abstract

The pandemic experience has made it clear that not everyone loves teaching or learning remotely. Many professors and students alike are eager to return to the classroom. However, our experiences over the last year and a half have also demonstrated the potentials and possibilities of learning online and have caused many professors to recalibrate their approaches to digital learning. While the tools for online learning were available well before March of 2020, many instructors are only now beginning to capitalize on their potential. The author of this article worked in online legal education before the pandemic, utilizing these tools and exploring ways to make the online experience more effective. This article is the result of her research on online legal education prior to the pandemic, which sheds light on future possibilities for online learning in law schools in post-pandemic times. The discussion explores various engagement strategies used by online legal educators, assesses students’ perceptions of those strategies, and examines these findings against the backdrop of existing learning theories. The article contributes to the scholarly literature on legal education and pedagogy by tying empirical evidence of student learning preferences to educational theory and identifying concrete strategies for increasing law student engagement and enjoyment.

Recommended Citation

Andrele Brutus St. Val, Survey Says--How to Engage Law Students in the Online Learning Environment, Journal of Legal Education (2022).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.pitt.edu/fac_articles/516