My goals in planning the large group lectures are (1) to generate interest in the material; (2) to engage the students in actively thinking about, applying, extending, interrogating, and analysing course content; (3) to put the statutory provisions into context; and (4) to provide students with visual and auditory memory cues for learning the material. 

Generating interest in the material is, in my view, a prerequisite to deep learning.  If students take the course like a dose of castor oil, they may be able to hold enough information in their short-term memories to be able to pass the final exam.  But when they walk out of the exam, they begin to forget all they have ‘learned’.  On the other hand, if students become interested in the subject matter and convinced its importance, they become motivated to study, to learn, and to incorporate what they have learned into their long-term memories.

My second goal is to use the large lecture in a way that engages the students in actively using and critiquing the course content.  When students make active use of the course content by thinking about it, applying it, extending it, interrogating it, analysing it, disagreeing with it, comparing and contrasting it, and so on, they transform information into knowledge.  They are more likely to understand and remember information that they have used.

Providing context is another important aspect to teaching complex statutory schemes like the Uniform Evidence Law and the Court Procedures Act.  Trying to learn the rules of evidence or civil procedure in a classroom can be like trying to learn the rules of a complex and ancient game – without playing or even seeing a real game.  You would not ever expect someone to learn the game of cricket without ever watching a cricket match or picking up a bat.  Neither can students be expected to learn and understand arcane rules of evidence and procedure without a basic understanding of how they operate in their context.[1]

In addition to providing context, I also attempt to provide auditory and visual memory cues.  High impact images and sounds can make an impression and aid recall of information.  Because there is a large volume of information in these courses, memory cues assist the students to have easy access to what they have learned.

Techniques:  To meet the goals I have set for my lectures, I make use of media, particularly music, images and animation.  These media allow me to (1) generate interest, energy and enthusiasm; (2) present high-impact images and analogies that serve as memory cues; (3) to integrate practical contextual material seamlessly into the lectures; and (4) to pose both simple and complex questions for discussion and engagement. 

Theme songs:  As students walk into the lecture hall, I play a theme song.  The theme song for each lecture usually has a title or a repeating lyric that I will return to at some point in the lecture.  For example, in a lecture that makes an extended analogy between extraordinary pre-trial manoeuvres and combat techniques, I use the song ‘Kung Fu Fighting.’ (A full list of this year’s theme songs is attached as an appendix.)  Theme songs may serve as memory cues, but more importantly they fill the room with energy.  As I turn off the music to begin the lecture, the energy of the song carries over and creates positive classroom dynamics.

Images and animation:  My lecture slides contain images that are selected to generate interest, to stimulate questions, to add a note of humour or an aid to memory.  I have included some examples of my lecture slides in the appendix to this application.[2]

Images are also an excellent vehicle for presenting practical and contextual material.  They permit students to envision how the rule actually works (see example of first-hand hearsay in appendix).  Practical context is also presented in the form of visual depictions of case facts.  Images are used to support short anecdotes or excerpts from cases that are illustrative of the way the rules work. Using images promotes the use of cases for their story-telling and context-providing capacity.  Students are more likely to remember the rule of a particular case and be able to analogize future problems if they have understood and remembered the story (the facts, the images) of the case.   

Using slides to promote engagement:  Students in a large lecture are often reluctant to volunteer an answer to a question posed orally.  I use slides to pose multiple choice, true/false, or discussion questions. The use of a slide allows me to include more information in a question or to pose a more complex question than can be posed orally.  The slide presentation also permits various methods of engaging students in answering.  I sometimes pose a question and ask students to answer in a short free-write.  Other times I ask students to raise their hands to answer a multiple choice question en masse.  During several lectures I divide the class into teams to answer multiple choice questions as if they are participating in a trivia contest. The questions force the students to read and interpret the rules of evidence in class, to discuss them with their peers, and to come up with what they think is the best answer.  When the ‘correct’ trivia answers are given, students do not seem to realize that they are receiving a lecture.  Instead of listening with their heads down, they interject to defend their team’s answers. 

I also use slides to regulate the pace of a lecture and to pose the simplest and most important questions.  One of the questions I frequently pose in a slide is, ‘Why is that important?’ or ‘Why do we care about this rule?’  I pose this question repeatedly because, in my view, energy and enthusiasm alone are not enough to generate student interest and engagement.  These questions push students to reflect on and have their own answers about the importance of the material.  I find that, when pushed, students often come up with keen insights about why a seemingly arcane or obscure rule makes a real difference to real people.

Does it work?  For me, the most telling comments about my approach come from unsolicited student remarks after the exam.  Following the Litigation exam this year, several students told me that images from my lectures kept popping into their minds during the exam, helping them to remember course content.  Student comments on formal teaching evaluations also suggest that the strategies I use are successful in helping students to engage with and remember the course material.  Students repeatedly comment on the slide presentations for their ability to engage their interest.  The lectures are described not only as ‘entertaining’, ‘creative’, ‘vibrant’, ‘funny’, but also ‘clear’, ‘relevant’, ‘structured’ and ‘demonstrat[ing] depth of practical knowledge and understanding.’