Lessons from Learning Theory:  How Clinics Can Help With the Bar Exam

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

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Law schools are increasingly turning to cognitive science and educational psychology to help law students learn better. Much of this focus on the part of the greater law school community is motivated by increasing bar passage rates. Clinics, however, have been applying many of these concepts for a long time. Some of the concepts explored in the literature and practice that are most directly related to the clinical mission are metacognition, self-regulated learning, and growth mindset. Metacognition refers to “thinking about thinking,” in the context of educational psychology, actively observing one’s own learning with a goal of improving the learning process. Self-regulated learning puts the results of this observation into action; self-regulated learners take control of their own learning process by actively planning, engaging in learning, and reflecting on the learning process. This concurrent session will first provide examples of what clinics already do well in applying learning theory. These may include goal-setting exercises, exercises related to communication and learning style, use of self- and peer-evaluation, reflecting on performance, and use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Second, we will, with audience participation, examine what clinicians can do better to enhance broadly translatable student learning in the clinic. The session’s goal is to encourage us to explicitly examine and name practices that have become an implicit part of how we teach. As a result, it will enable us to apply our current practices more effectively and to develop new ways of incorporating learning theory into our clinics to promote the development of our students as life-long learners. This session will suggest that, by emphasizing lessons from learning theory in clinical courses, clinicians can show how they enhance students’ ability to pass the bar exam rather than “distracting” students from preparing for bar passage as we are sometimes unfairly accused of doing.