See One, Do One, Teach One: Dissecting the Use of Medical Education’s Signature Pedagogy in the Law School Curriculum

Abstract

With the recent publication of the Best Practices in Legal Education, (1) and the Carnegie Report on the Advancement of Teaching, (2) law professors today have an opportunity to adopt pedagogies that have been successfully used in other professional disciplines that, like law, integrate skills and theory. In this article, we focus specifically on the “see one, do one, teach one” approach used in medical education because medical students and law students develop early professional reasoning skills in parallel ways. (3) This article dissects medical education’s signature pedagogy by focusing on the use of simulation and samples, active learning exercises, and peer teaching opportunities as a corollary to using visualization, application, and demonstration in the medical context.

The article guides legal educators through the process of implementing the methodology. This article concludes that utilizing the “see one, do one, teach one” methodology facilitates student engagement with course material on a deeper analytical level, by providing context for the students, and allowing students to internalize and transfer that knowledge. (4) Accordingly, borrowing the signature “see one, do one, teach one” pedagogy from medical education will ultimately help students better bridge the gap between law school and the practice of law.

(1) ROY STUCKEY AND OTHERS, BEST PRACTICES FOR LEGAL EDUCATION (2007).

(2) WILLIAM M. SULLIVAN, ANNE COLBY, JUDITH WELCH WEGNER, LLOYD BOND & LEE S. SHULMAN, EDUCATING LAWYERS: PREPARATION FOR THE PROFESSION OF LAW (2007).

(3) See Stefan H. Krieger, The Development of Legal Reasoning Skills in Law Students: An Empirical Study, 56 J. LEGAL EDUC. 332, 351-53 (2006). (4) Carol McCrehan Parker, Writing Through the Curriculum: Why Law Schools Need It and How to Achieve It, 76 NEB. L. REV. 561, 583-84 (1997).