Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
Responding to a changing landscape of law practice, law schools are searching for ways to structure the classroom experience and broader curriculum to promote more efficient and better learning outcomes. Although imitation, modeling, and the use of examples have become pre-eminent features of modern legal education, these pedagogies have remained largely unexamined. This article shows the power of teaching with examples in both the traditional and legal writing classroom, as well as how skillfully to limit the use of such pedagogy for maximum effect. Specifically, this article applies the findings of cognitive load research and composition theory to show that using worked examples is a superior pedagogy for novice learners, but that as students progress, they learn less from examples and need more opportunities for problem-solving. The article further explores the implications of this insight for curricular design and reform.
Publication Citation
64 J. Legal Educ. 298 (2014).
Recommended Citation
Pollman, Terrill, "The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Examples and Model-Based Learning in the Law School Classroom" (2014). Scholarly Works. 939.
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub/939