A Law School Game Changer: (Trans)formative Feedback

Abstract

Many law professors have experienced the frustration of spending hours providing feedback to students only to find that the students fail to read it and, even when they do, they are not able to use it to enhance their understanding of the law. Amidst current concerns about the real value of a legal education, this Article seeks to identify ways in which law professors can take steps to create formative assessment opportunities that will enable students to become successful, self-regulated learners. Drawing upon educational psychology principles guiding best practices of formative assessment, this Article focuses on cutting-edge strategies for providing feedback that is more likely to be used by students, yet takes less time for professors to create. It sets out innovative yet simple ways to give feedback that transfers the responsibility for learning to students and enables them to improve their performance in law school, all while cultivating the skills necessary for success as a lawyer.

Keywords: Legal education, Law Student, Law Professor, Educational Psychology, Formative Assessment, Feedback, Self-regulated Learning, Social Constructivist, Active Learning, Rubrics, Self-assessment, Peer-assessment, Metacognition, Motivation

JEL Classification: K00, K19