Teach-In Kit 2021: We Need Your Submissions!
Have you designed a great assignment that your students loved? Or discovered new and exciting ways to teach legal research, even in the middle of a pandemic? Then consider sharing them with AALL by submitting them to the 29th Annual RIPS-SIS Legal Research Teach-In Kit!
Deadline for submissions: February 19, 2021
Where to send your submissions: Clare Willis, at Clare.willis@law.northwestern.edu
What can you submit?
All sorts of things! The Teach-in Kit will include hypos, presentations, assessments, and any other activities you may have designed. You can submit brand new materials or old favorites. If it helps us teach legal research better, we would love to see it!
Here are some examples from years past, with testimonials:
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Local Government Law from the 22nd Teach-In Kit 2014. I have found this presentation and assignment invaluable for teaching municipal law. It is keyed to California law, but can be easily adapted to other jurisdictions. I especially like the assignment, researching plastic bag bans, because it requires students to use two different municipal code platforms and lets them experience searching a legal database that isn’t Lexis and Westlaw.
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Wikipedia Project from the 28th Teach-In Kit 2019. I’ve found that this Wikipedia assignment makes for an awesome final project in Advanced Legal Research! Students have the opportunity to do a deep dive into a research topic that they feel passionately about while using the skills they learn throughout ALR. The rubric included with this assignment makes grading easier as well.
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Database Review Assignment from the 28th Teach-In Kit 2019. This assignment was a great way to get students to apply the research strategies I taught in class to evaluate the usefulness of select databases on their own. Because students would typically give their presentations at the beginning of class, the database reviews also helped set the stage for what we would be talking about that day. Overall, a simple, low-stakes assessment that keeps students engaged, and allows them to gain exposure to lots of extra tools, resources, and databases!
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Federal Legislative History. I love that this worksheet walks students through the cumbersome process of performing extensive legislative history research using both free and paid resources. While it requires updating to be used in conjunction with current government sites, I like that it can be used in whole or in part to demonstrate to students just how expansive – and interesting – legislative history research is!
What if it’s not perfect?
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good! Send whatever you have, in whatever form you have it, and the committee will work with you to get it into a format that works for everyone.
We Can’t Wait To See Your Ideas!
Your materials are what make the Teach-In Kit so valuable, and we are grateful for everything you provide every year. In this especially trying year, we could use your help more than ever! If you want to submit something, or have any questions, that email again is: Clare Willis, at Clare.willis@law.northwestern.edu.