Corporations Hybrid: A COVID Case Study on Innovation in Business Law Pedagogy

Abstract

This essay, written by a law professor and a student teaching assistant, shares suggestions intended to increase student engagement and improve learning outcomes by creating and using digital teaching assets effectively. The essay briefly summarizes the literature on traditional and online law school pedagogy and then explains the Hybrid Corporation class we taught during the Spring 2020 COVID-19 emergency. We report on what worked well in our real-world classroom environment and what worked when we had to shift totally to an online delivery format. We found that good videos are critical, and we explain why and how we created what the students found to be effective instructional videos. We also explain how to juxtapose videos and other passive learning content with active digital teaching assets such as quizzes, essay tests, reflective journals, and discussion boards, all intended to enhance student learning and engage students in our virtual classroom. Following the essay we have appended a case brief template to serve as a resource for law teachers who want to use the case law method online and for students who want a more structured approach to reading cases.

Keywords: COVID-19, coronavirus, pedagogy, online education, teaching, internet

JEL Classification: A, A1, A00, A2, A22, A23, K, K00, K2, K22, K4