Curricular Changes in Legal Research Instruction: An Empirical Study

Abstract

This article examines components of curricular design of a legal research class as impacting student performance. Expertise of instructor and use of the inverted, or flipped, classroom are specifically explored. Eight years of exam performance on an oral legal research midterm is used to measure student performance and success of various components of curricular design.

Keywords: inverted classroom, flipped classroom, legal research curriculum, teaching assistant, dual-degree librarian, oral exam, Socratic method, PowerPoint, lecture, passive learning, active learning, curricular design, e-learning module, video module, podcast

JEL Classification: K10, I20, I21, I23