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Monday, May 21, 2007

Course Preparation Project: Choosing Supplemental Materials (Update)

The posts on supplemental materials have been met with less interest than the casebook posts.  I think this makes sense: most of the pedagogical choices are made in the casebook, rather than the statutory supplement.  But there are instances of people choosing a different supplement than the casebook, or even eschewing a supplement and putting the materials online.  Some of our commenters have already mentioned these examples in the comments.

In addition, it would be helpful to discuss what additional supplemental materials you assign.  Do you assign a book from the "Foundations" or the "Stories" series?  Do you assign a study aid?  Do you suggest one?  Have you considered one but then chosen not to, or stopped using it?  Input on all of these areas would be helpful to new teachers.

Here are the individual posts by subject:

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Posted by Matt Bodie on May 21, 2007 at 01:48 PM in Teaching Law | Permalink

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Comments

I'm not big on supplements, in part because I like to think I test on what I teach, not what Gilbert's or E&E might have to say on the subject. Also, if you have made tough calls on depth versus coverage, supplements (which are out there anyway) may muck things up ("Professor, the E&E on secured transactions covers federal tax liens and enforcement, why don't you?")

I also worry about encouraging supplements for the following reason. If it is a statutory class, the student may already be spending $90 on a casebook and $35 on a statutory supplement already. The rules for taking my exams are that they are open book as to the casebook, statutory supplement, class notes, anything I posted or handed out, and any material in which the student participated in its creation, including note or outline pools. ALL purchased materials, including supplements and student notes, are barred. And the latter ban is not so much because of any advantage - I can usually tell a Gilbertized answer - but to deal with the general paranoia, particularly if students can't afford to buy the supplements.

Posted by: Jeff Lipshaw | May 21, 2007 2:28:29 PM

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