Visual Aids Can Compliment a Law Professor's Teaching Strategy

By Professor Aaron Caplan

Visual aids are not the most important thing a law teacher does in the classroom. They can never substitute for well-chosen material, clear organization, thoughtfully chosen in-class activities, being a good explainer or being a good listener. With that said, good visual aids can help students learn more effectively – and bad visual aids make learning harder.

A series of videos based on a presentation I gave at the AALS New Law Teachers Workshop in June 2019 explores what makes successful visual aids work. The first segment explores the psychology of multi-media learning, providing a theory for preparing visual aids that complement one’s lesson plan and not detract from it. The following segments provide examples of visual aids that I have used with success in various classes, including illustrations, visual renderings of legal texts, visualizations of concepts, and more.

The videos can be reached here: www.lls.edu/CaplanVisualAids/

The Journalist Law School at Loyola

By Professor John T. Nockleby

For the past eight years, Loyola has partnered with leading Bar organizations to host the Journalist Law School (JLS). The program is an intense four-day "boot camp" in law for professional journalists. It exposes them to core concepts within our legal system, such as the structure of the courts, judicial independence and the relationships among the three branches of government. JLS also covers substantive courses including Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Procedure and Torts. Other sessions feature panels which address "hot" topics in the legal world. This year's hot topics focused on firearms control, immigration, arbitration, mass torts and the crisis in the courts.

Journalists who participate are offered Fellowships to cover the expenses of attending. This year, the JLS committee selected 38 journalists from a pool of 240 applicants. These highly regarded journalists hailed from 22 cities throughout the United States and reported for a variety of major national and regional newspapers, television news, radio, magazines and new media.

JLS features a packed schedule, including breakout sessions that often run simultaneously to provide more individualized attention. This year, more than 50 speakers, comprised of Loyola faculty and legal experts, presented on a wide range of topics from legal ethics to drone strikes to voting rights.

Then & Now: Images From the Same Spot as the L.A. Riots 20 Years Later

Professor Laurie Levenson , David W. Burcham Professor of Ethical Advocacy, was quoted in an LA Weekly article titled, "Then & Now: Images From the Same Spot as the LA Riots 20 Years Later.

Read the full article here.