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Abstract:
The authors conducted an empirical study comparing the learning styles of law students with young adults at other educational institutions. The law school sample population came from St. John's University School of Law in New York and Stetson University College of Law in Florida. The law school data were compared with the learning styles of a random sample of college and graduate students, provided by Performance Concepts International. All subjects assessed their learning styles by using Building Excellence ("BE"). BE is an on-line assessment tool.

The BE profiles used in this study resembled the class learning-style profiles taken at the respective law schools in prior years. Thus the consistent BE profiles of law school students confirmed that the law school data set was reliable.

The Dunn and Dunn Model was used because it of its comprehensive design. The Model currently includes 26 learning-style elements. Data for this study included results of these elements.

In this study, the results showed that the learning styles of law students differed significantly from college and graduate students for 14 different elements of the 26 elements studies. To have significant findings for 14 categories, and to have each with this level of significance, is unusual. Some of the learning-style preferences of law students comport with our commonly held understanding, such as having a stronger preference for Verbal Kinesthetic tendencies (they learn by speaking while simultaneously listening). However, the general student population was more tactual, as opposed to the law population, despite the proliferation of laptops in the law school classroom.

The findings confirm observations that professors may have about law students, but some findings are surprising.

Abstract:
What is metacognition and why have your students engage in it? Metacognition is an instructional tool that "shifts energy from professor to student." Researchers in fields of psychology and education have found metacognition to be an effective method to engage students in the learning process. Law students are diverse in their learning styles, according to assessments performed annually at St. John's University School of Law. Law professors are encouraged to engage students in active learning and metacognitive exercises. This article presents examples of teaching techniques involving active engagement and metacognition.

Abstract:
Most law school classes are likely to include students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or its related disorder - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is imperative for teachers to be equipped for teaching law students with ADD. To be effective in reaching those students, law professors should understand the common learning-style traits of ADD students. This article describes what researchers know about ADD and how it can impact learning. It summarizes empirical research and describes the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model. It also discusses federal statutes and court cases mandating individualized approaches to teaching students with learning disabilities. Finally, it recommends ways in which law professors can diversify their teaching methods to assist ADD students and their classmates.

Abstract:
In this seminal article, Robin A. Boyle and Rita Dunn for the first time assess the learning styles of law students using the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model. The article surveys the literature criticizing the traditional methods of law school teaching and explores the growing movement advocating that law schools should experiment with research on learning styles. The results of the testing of the St. John's University School of Law students are provided. In summary, learning students are diverse in their learning style. The authors recommend using Homework Prescriptions and conclude that a single method of teaching would be ineffective with all students.

Abstract:
As a lawyer, you are part of a complex web of relationships when servicing clients, and you can maximize your potential by thinking in terms of interacting with others as part of the same team. Furthermore, as an employee, you can pay attention to your learning-style strengths so that you can work productively and efficiently. Alternatively, as a manager, you can communicate in ways that assist employees in terms of their diversity of learning styles.

How can you, as a lawyer, make use of theories concerning team approaches, emotional intelligence, and learning styles? How can you, as a manager of a law practice, improve your firm's performance? By understanding two premises: (1) that lawyers, regardless of the size of their practice, work in tandem with others and would benefit from team approaches; and (2) that law firms are composed of individuals with unique learning styles who do not always work well in teams or pairs.

Part I of this Article explains how the individual benefits from effective use of a complex web of business relationships. In Part II, the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model is summarized. Part III applies the Dunn and Dunn Model to a law practice from the perspectives of both the associate and the manager.

Abstract:
Contract-drafting courses are gaining in popularity in law school, and they are a pleasure to teach. In July 2005, Northwestern School of Law provided the location and on-site assistance in hosting the first national conference, in recent times, on the topic of Teaching Contract Drafting. Approximately 100 participants attended, indicating the need and growing enthusiasm for guidance on how to develop and teach contract-drafting courses. At the conference, presenters addressed teaching contract drafting to both first-year students and upper-level students.

Law schools may offer an upper-level course as a stand-alone, such as the one I have been teaching, in which the students (and the professor) are not linked to a particular doctrinal basis. Alternatively, upper-level professors may focus their contract-drafting course around a specific topic, such as intellectual property, or have their students research actual corporations. The number of credits the course is worth affects classroom instruction; the more time in the classroom, the more in-class drafting and negotiations can occur.

This article provides suggestions regarding selecting books, structuring the course, incorporating negotiations, offering learning-styles assessments, and grading assignments. It also offers a comparison to first-year legal writing courses. A contract-drafting course can foster students' self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning, as well as provide them with the necessary tools for practice.

Abstract:
This article presents the results of a multi-year study that examined the learning styles of law students at three law schools in the age category known as Generation X. Joanne Ingham and Robin Boyle also compared the learning styles of the faculty who teach the Gen X student population in the study. The three law schools included in the study were Albany Law School, New York Law School, and St. John's University School of Law. All three schools are located in different geographical parts of New York State. The Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model was used. The study's findings support and offer explanations for several characteristics of the Gen Xers. When comparing the learning styles of law students and faculty, the authors found that faculty and students' learning style patterns were very different from each other.

Abstract:
Are you assuming that because the majority of law students in your classes are visual and/or tactile learners because they have grown up using computers, and we see students using computers all the time? If so, then implicit is this assumption is that learning styles are determined by environmental factors alone or that students' awareness of strengths lead them to capitalize on their personal learning styles. This article challenges these assumptions and suggests teaching approaches to reach students' diverse learning styles.

Abstract:
Robin A. Boyle, who has conducted empirical studies in her legal research classes at St. John's University School of Law, and Joanne Ingham, who has conducted empirical studies at undergraduate institutions and currently conducts and consults on empirical studies at New York Law School, present a step-by-step approach to setting up an empirical study at a law school.

Abstract:
This article represents the transcribed proceedings of Professor Robin Boyle’s speech given in May 2008, for the Center for Transactional Law and Practice at Emory University School of Law, at a conference entitled “Teaching Drafting and Transactional Skills - the Basics and Beyond.” Prof. Boyle’s presentation at the conference described course content for her upper-level seminar on contract drafting. She also suggests ways to critique students’ contracts submitted for coursework.

Abstract:
Robin Boyle and Karen Russo conducted an empirical study in legal research and writing classes at St. John's University School of Law by assessing the law students of the class. They provided a Contract Activity Package (CAP) for motivated and independent learners. Rose Lefkowitz conducted a similar study in a health law class at Downstate Medical Center. (Both schools are in the New York metropolitan area.) The CAP allows students to work at their own pace and reaches a variety of learning styles within a class. The findings for both studies were that students' knowledge increased significantly when using the CAP; whereas, students' knowledge increased only modestly when using traditional teaching methods.

Abstract:
There has been little empirical research conducted in law schools concerning the effectiveness of teaching students according to their individual learning styles. Boyle and Dolle conducted an empirical study at St. John's University School of Law. They assessed the learning-styles preferences of a first-year law student population and measured the effectiveness of a particular type of instructional tool - the Programmed Learning Sequence manuals (PLS). The law students indicated in their assessments that they were diverse in their learning style; additionally, the students indicated that they strongly preferred structured and tactual materials. The PLS is a highly structured and tactual strategy for conveying information on any academic subject. Boyle and Dolle selected the topic of legal research for the PLS manuals. The empirical study contrasted how well law students learned legal research from traditional methods, such as classroom lecture with some visual aids, with how well they learned it with the PLS manuals. The findings were that students who used PLS manuals performed significantly better than those taught through traditional methods.

Abstract:
The author examines three avenues of legal recourse that are available to society at large, but may not be well-known to women in cults, their families, and their potential mental health providers. These avenues for recourse are improved rape laws now available in every state; recently-enacted federal legislation - the 1994 Violence Against Women Act; and recently-enacted state and federal antistalking laws. The author developed this article from her speech delivered at the annual American Family Foundation conference on May 30, 1997, in Philadelphia, PA.

Abstract:
This essay responds to the provocative remarks by Lawrence H. Summers made at a conference on Diversifying the Science and Engineering Workforce. Summers postulated that a reason for a disparity in women's representation in tenured positions in science and engineering was the different availability of aptitude at the high end. He also commented that there were studies indicating that males perform better on achievement tests than females.

In this essay, Boyle and Honigsfeld share the results of an international study by Doctors Honigsfeld and Rita Dunn. Drs. Honigsfeld and Dunn found that there were differences between high school males and females, throughout the world, in terms of their learning styles. This gender study indicated that female students process academic information differently from their male counterparts. (The researchers also found that, whereas there were differences between the learning styles of boys and girls in five countries, individuals within each group had unique learning styles as well.)

With respect to the differences that Summers refers to, Boyle & Honigsfeld conclude that it may be neither aptitude nor IQ that is at issue here, but the difference between how the subjects of science and engineering are taught and how these subjects are learned by females and males.

Abstract:
The author examines how children who are born into cults or brought into them at a young age can use state emancipation laws to gain independence when they are in their mid-teens, so long as they can demonstrate criteria that their states have established. Commonly, states require a showing that the minor has achieved some level of economic self-sufficiency and can live emotionally and physically independently from his or her parents. There are some difficulties for cultic children in demonstrating these criteria, but the obstacles are not insurmountable.

Abstract:
Robin A. Boyle reviews Grandparents' Rights: What Every Grandparent Needs to Know, a book written by Patricia Perkins Slorah. Boyle recommends this book for grandparents who seek legal assistance in securing visitations with their grandchildren. The book is written in layperson's language.

Abstract:
The author presents key provisions of The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, which is federal legislation divided into two Acts. In Parts I and II of this article, the author describes how The Violence Against Women Act of 2000 reauthorized critical grant programs created by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, established new programs, and strengthened federal laws. In Part III of this article, the author explains that The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 prevents the trafficking of women and children. In Part IV the author suggests how both Acts have implications for cult members or former members of cultic groups.