Techniques in Learning Law
In my experience students best learn law through approaching the subject by first adopting a shallow, familiarisation with the subject content. It allows the student the opportunity to see the whole of the jigsaw puzzle and whet the appetite for the deeper learning approach that follows. In most of my classes I adopt this approach. It seems to meet the needs of most of my students.
Law is about basic learning of facts, and the developing of ideas and resolve of problems that concern these facts. Knowledge, for me, is not the transmission of information. It is the developing of student skills in the understanding and enjoying of law.
Key words
Law and cases in law lend themselves to key word analysis, which derives from computer database search techniques and the belief that we see things in terms of pictures. Law students find learning cases a problem. I encourage them to take a piece of paper with three headings
Topic Name of case Key words
One case we use in contract law is Calill v Carbolic Smokeball Company Ltd 1893 (I bet those of you who have studied law smiled when you saw the case name) The first two columns are easily dealt with. The key word column is more difficult. As the student learns the case the key word could be a sentence or even a paragraph. Eventually the student will end with something like this :
>Topic Name of case Key words
Contract Calill v Carbolic Influenza cure failed
Offer, Certainty Smokeball Company
When the student reads the list he or she sees a mental picture of the case. You can almost see Mrs Calill go to the shop, buy the smokeball to keep away influenza, falls ill with influenza, see the advertisement that led to the case etc.
Memory maps
These are excellent ways of aising the learning of law. They provide an interesting change from the continual reading of standrd text. The memory map can be constructed in a siple or complex way. It is the ability to visualise and to transform the visual data into pictures and words that is so important. To develop the idea of memory maps see the works of Tony Buzan.
Within each of these areas developed the memory map can be built to suit your need. You can develop sub directories with cases and explanations in as simple or elaborate a way as you like.