Mastering the Matrix was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) on July 15, 2001. Matrix focused on using technology effectively to teach adult learners. It was not a presentation on distance learning. The selected resources on this web page were consulted in preparation of Matrix and can be used to create lessons that suit your own needs. We invite you to review our multimedia presentation with the hope that it might inspire you to develop effective lectures using widely available software that is both familiar to PC users and inexpensive (or free) to acquire. AALL recorded this presentation on audio cassette and makes it available for sale for a limited time. Comments can be directed to the Matrix Masters, John Nann and Victoria Szymczak.
Do Not Forget Your Copyright Obligations.Arthur W. Chickering and Stephen C. Ehrmann,IMPLEMENTING THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES: Technology as Lever. This essay published in the AAHE Bulletin (see, Current Awareness sources below) describes some of the most cost-effective and appropriate ways to use computers, video, and telecommunications technologies to advance the Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.
Arthur W. Chickering & Zelda F. Gamson, Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, AAHE Bull., Mar. 1987, at 3. This article sets forth the Seven Principles as identified by the Johnson Foundation study on quality undergraduate education and on which the Seven Principles of Good Practice in Legal Education are built.
Kristin B. Gerdy, Making the Connection: Learning Style Theory and the Legal Research Curriculum, 19 Legal References Services Quarterly 71 (2000). Kristin Gerdy was our TRIALL guru and she continues her clear explanation of learning theory and styles which includes a discussion on verbal, visual and tactile learners and David Kolbe's theories on experiential learning.
Gerald F. Hess, Seven Principles of Good Practice in Legal Education, 49 J. Legal Educ. 367 (1999). Hess, Director of the Institute for Law School teaching, builds upon the seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education first identified in the 1980s by Zelda Gamson and Arthur Chickering as a result of the Johnson Foundation study on quality undergraduate education. In his article, Hess outlines the procedure of the Gamson/Chickering study and relates their finding to the law school setting.
Gerald F. Hess and Steven Friedland, Techniques for Teaching Law, Durham, N.C. : Carolina Academic Press, 1999. Hess and Friedland address the pedagogical issues in legal education as well as the practical aspects. Some topics they discuss include experiential learning, simulations, use of visual aids, and the use of computers generally. A significant portion of the book consists of their 137 teaching ideas that have been used in classrooms and embrace the principles of adult and active learning.
Susan Horton, Web Teaching Guide: A Practical approach to creating course web sites, Horton states in the Preface that "Web teaching is all about connections..." This thoughtful and managable monograph was created for educators who would like to add a web component to their classroom. She discusses lanning, developing content and creation of a web site that addresses how to manipulate multimedia elements on a web site in order to complement a lecture or homework assignment. It has a good bibliography and lenty of graphics to guide you. Her audience is instructors in higher education.
William Horton, Designing Web-Based Training, New York, NY : John Wiley & Sons, 2000. Horton's large book of advice on Web-Based Training is extremely thorough and addresses the many different levels of using the Internet to teach. In Chapters 6, Active Learning, Horton surveys formats for developing web casts, presentation sequences, drill exercises, scavenger hunts, and guided research exercises. Chapter 7, Active Learning and Testing reviews assessment tools and what results you can expect from the different types presented. Chapter 12 reviews problems you may run into using technology in your courses and suggests ways to troubleshoot those problems.
Greg Kearsley, Online Education: Learning and Teaching in Cyberspace, Belmont, CA : Wadsworth Thomson Learning, 2000. The author presents material relevant to grade school and higher education institutions. Chapter 3 is devoted to a discussion of the elements that make-up online education: E-Mail, threaded discussion, different conferencing options, files transfers, simulations, and their effect on curriculum development. Chapter 4 reviews the research done in the field on online education. Significant time is spent on both the theory behind online learning and practical aspects including implementation, software, and hardware needs. It is amazing what he accomplished in 201 pages.
Susan Ko and Steve Rossen, Teaching Online: A Practical Guide, Boston, MA : Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. This is a terrific guide to making the most from online education. The book is divided into three parts: Getting Started, Putting the Course Together, and Teaching in the Online Classroom. The chapters provide practical advice, good examples, and step-by-step instructions to accomplish some difficult tasks.
Arturo Lopez Torres and Mary Kay Lundwell, Moving Beyond Langdell II: An Annotated Bibliography of Current Methods for Law Teaching, 35 Gonzaga Law Review 1 (2000). This update to the Torres/Harwook 1994 bibliography includes annotations to 209 articles that consider teaching methodologies in an educational setting. The material is organized by subject and in a unique asset for the legal education community. Some of the subject headings include Audiovisual Aids, Conflicts of Law, International Law and Legal Research.
Ralph Cafolla, Dan Kauffman and Richard Knee, World Wide Web for Teachers, Allyn and Bacom : New York, NY, 1996 The first five chapters of this 231 page book reviews how to use the Internet generally and includes some class tips for live presentations. Chapter 6 is a compendium of web sites divided into ten categories. Within the Educational Web Sites section there is a subsection on Higher Education. These sites were selected because they relates to the education uses of computers and technology in colleges and universities. Also of interest is the section on the Internet, which points to web sites that contain information on using the Web, searching the Web, and some lesson plans for integrating the Web into the classroom. A third section titled research includes libraries, search tools, and databases. While the other sections may not be as useful to law librarians or professors, you might use them as good resources to obtain ideas for your own classes.
Robert A. Cole, ed., Issues in Web-Based Pedagogy: A Critical Primer, Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2000. This book presents chapters focusing on both practical and philosophical considerations for using the web in a teaching environment. The philosophical essays address issues such as social equality and the digital evolution. A couple of examples from the chapters with a more "nuts-and-bolts" approach include examples and issues in using the web in a live lecture, copyright considerations for faculty, and teaching research skills on the net.
Eric Jensen, The Learning Brain, San Diego, CA : Turning Point Press, 1995. In this book, Jensen examines how people learn. In particular, Jensen has a good discussion of the roles of games in learning and how effective they can be. He also focuses on physiological factors that influence learning.
David A. Kolbe, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, Prentice-Hall : Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984. David A. Kolbe is an early name in the field of experiential (active learning). The learning modes discussed in the Matrix presentation are taken from this publication where he discusses learning styles in greater detail.
Les Lloyd, ed., Teaching with Technology: Rethinking Tradition, Medord, NJ : Information Today, 2000. This is a collection of essays from instructors at different institutions recounting their experiences with technology and higher education. Chapters 17 and 18 address adult learners and law students respectively; however, the other chapters are interesting to read and offer tips on how to avoid disasters and create good lessons based on their experiences. All the essays have endnotes for additional reading.
Alan Tait and Roger Mills, The Convergence of Distance and Conventional Education: Patterns of Flexibility for the Individual Learner, New York, NY : Routledge, 1999. This collection of essays from educators from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States address the utility of distance learning in adult education. Many policy considerations are explored and case studies reviewed. The essays all have endnotes for further research in this area.
Lisa Ann Petrides, ed.,Case Studies on Information Technology in Higher Education: Implications for Policy and Practice, Hershey, PA : Idea Group Publishing, 2000. This book focuses on both the successes and failures associated with integrating information technology into institutions of higher education. The twenty-one chapters each recount the experiences of colleges and universities which integrated some level of technology implemented learning on their campus. The issues discussed include fiscal matters, support staff, technical considerations, and pedagogy. An interesting book on the use of technology in higher education.
Arthur L. Wilson and Elizabeth R. Hayes, eds., Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education, American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass, 2000. The AAACE is the national professional organization for all individuals and institutions involved in adult and continuing education. This book does not address the use of technology in teaching adult learners as a specific topic. Instead, it integrates this aspect of instruction into its chapters on program planning, teaching tools, effective teaching strategies, and communication.
Robin Boyle, Teaching Law Students Through Individual Learning Styles, 62 Albany Law Reviw 213 (1998). This article is divided into three parts. Part I surveys the literature critiquing traditional methods of instruction. Part II recommends instructional strategies including strategues that accomodate differing physiological, sociological and environmental factors. Part III reviews their use of "homework prescriptions" which are tailored to individual learning styles. Overall, an interesting report on a study conducted by them at St. John's University School of Law.
William H. Lawrence, Diagramming Commercial Paper Transactions, 52 Ohio State Law Journal 267 (1991). A review of the authors' visual approach to complicated commercial paper transactions. Lawrence includes examples of diagramming schemes in this publication.
William Wesley Patten, Opening Students' Eyes': Visual Learning Theory in the Socratic Classroom, 15 Law and Psychology Review 1 (1991). Patton demonstrates how learning theory can be intergrated into the Socratic method of legal instruction without sacrificing intellectual integrity. His examples are those used in a first year torts class he taught in 1989. Patton makes heavy use of visual aids and cooperative learning methods (such as games) to aid those students who prefer visual and tactile learning experiences.
William M. Richmond, Graphic Forms in Conflict of Laws, 27 University of Toledo Law Review 631 (1996). The author illustrates how he uses visual aids in class to clairfy issues surrounding Conflicts of Laws.