The course is broken into “modules,” each one week in length. Each module includes assigned reading, videos summarizing key lessons from those readings, quizzes ensuring basic comprehension, and assignments of increasing complexity challenging students to exercise the legal study and lawyering skills of analysis and communication.
A core purpose of Pathways Course 1 is to ensure students are aware of, and prepared for, the substantial study obligations they will encounter in law school. Pathways 1 introduces the students gently but firmly to course expectations:
Weekly Expectations
Each week you will need to complete the assigned e-text reading and/or any additional reading assigned. Each week you must also complete the assignments and/or Quick Checks assigned in that week's module. Not all modules will contain both assignments and Quick Checks, but each week you will have Quick Checks and/or assignments to complete. The Quick Checks are designed to test your basic comprehension of reading assignments and lecture videos. They are not intended to be difficult.
In order to post intelligently in the discussion posts and to be successful in the quizzes and assignments (and, especially, the final exam), you MUST do the assigned reading, watch the lecture videos in each module, and take your own notes on those videos and readings. While there are occasionally Google slides in the lecture videos, the slides are intended merely to act as my "chalkboard" during the lecture to highlight important ideas. The slides should not be considered a substitute for your own notes from the material—nor do the slides set out all the information that you will need to create your outline and study for the exam.
One innovation meant to better integrate the different components of the Pathway Program (courses, mentorship, professional integration) was the introduction of an “Interview a Practitioner” assignment in Pathways 1:
Field Work: Interviewing a Practitioner Project
Students could be asked to identify a legal practitioner and conduct an interview as part of a long-term project. The "Interviewing a Practitioner" project could take place over several weeks. Each week there will be at least one assignment due. The purpose of this project is to get the student thinking about where they see themselves in the field of law, and to start getting them connected to legal professionals to explore more about their preferred area and others. As part of the Pathways courses, they will also be assigned a mentor from the law school that can help them connect to legal professionals and answer questions they may have about law school and practice.
A final exam could be designed in a number of ways to encourage the students to engage with a case/statute and respond to objective-answer questions designed to ensure reading comprehension and analysis:
This three (3) hour examination consists of two sections. Section One has one full case for you to read and accompanying questions for you to answer as directed. Section Two has a statute for you to read, with accompanying facts, and questions to answer as directed.
Course 2: Introduction to Legal Research and Writing
The second course in a Pathways to the Law program could be an Introduction to Legal Research and Writing, which are important skills employed by law students and lawyers in their daily professional lives.
Sample Course 2 Outcomes
The outcomes are designed to enhance their skills in these areas:
- English grammar
- Citation practices
- What is plagiarism?
- Organization
- Legal Reasoning
- Basic legal research for non-lawyers
- Developing a professional identity
Description
The selected culminating assessments included three major writing assignments, a mini-course about plagiarism, Core Grammar for Lawyers Post-Test, LexisNexis Legal Research Modules, and conferences about resumes and professionalism.
The course is organized by week. The weekly activities built into the Canvas learning management system to scaffold their learning include instructional videos, longer-form quizzes, short form quizzes using the Canvas “quick check” technology, discussion boards, Google Documents, and assigned readings.
Course 3: Advanced Legal Reasoning; Critical Thinking
The course can have the original intent of preparing students for success on the LSAT. Pathways 3 is also the one course that has been “handed off” as the developing faculty member moved to a leadership role at the law school and was forced to step back from teaching obligations. The handover proved smooth and demonstrated the possibility of Pathway courses being adopted by other institutions.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the engaged student will be able to do the following:
- Describe, identify, and provide examples of deductive logic and inductive logic.
- Describe and identify formal and informal fallacies as well as identify ways of improving them.
- Distinguish between good and bad definitions, recognize the differences between explicit and implicit meaning, and remove ambiguities of meaning from ambiguously worded statements.
- Apply critical reading and thinking skills to analyze and interpret statutory law and common law.
- Apply critical reading and thinking skills to analyze and critically evaluate, based on logic and linguistic structure, arguments related to legal issues, practices, and institutions.
- Coherently and compellingly construct and communicate arguments, policies, and actions pertinent to the law.
- Effectively write essays that identify issues, have coherent theses and reasonable supporting arguments, and reflect careful attention to language, logic, and subtleties of reasoning.
- Interact with others with thoughtfulness, clarity, logic, and respect.