Upward! Higher: How a Law Faculty Stays Ahead of the Curve

Abstract

Full-time and part-time faculty of the IUMcKinney School ofLaw convened together with campus and university partners from the IUPUI Center for Teaching and Learning and Indiana University e-Learning Design and Services for the second annual "Upward!" teaching symposium at the beginning ofFall Semester 2017. The two-day gathering involved panel discussions on topics including online teaching, online course design, teaching externships, designing lessons for the law school's active learning classrooms, teaching international students, and teaching with an eye to the bar exam. Participants enjoyed afield trip to IUPUI campus offices supporting the university's teaching mission, including the Center for Teaching and Learning and the recording studio. Panelists contributed to this joint publication, which includes sole- or joint- authored submissions by Professors Adams, Baker, Boyne, Huffinan, Ryznar, Shope, and Sullivan; an introduction by Dean Klein and Professor Huffman; and reactions to the primary papers. These submissions reflect a variety ofscholarly methods, drawing from empirical study, anecdotal observation, and theoretical analysis. The written submissions from Upward! combine to relate a story of law school curricular, student body, and course design that responds to the changing needs and realities of the profession and student demand. The Introduction by Dean Klein and Professor Huffinan explains that design is a combination of top- down direction and bottom-up faculty-led innovation. As law schools continue to cope with uncertainties, including a changing regulatory environment, and resource constraints, the McKinney model offers an approach to purposeful change.