In hopes that an old dog can learn new tricks, I've been experimenting the last few years with trying to build experiential learning opportunities into my lecture courses. My classes tend to be in the 80-120 range, so I obviously can't give the kind of close supervision the students would (ideally) get in a small simulation or clinic.
In thinking about how to work experiential learning into big lecture hall environment, I've benefited considerably from an article by Jessica Erickson, Experiential Education in the Large Lecture Hall, which you can download here. I recommend it very highly.
For one thing, I completely agree with Erickson's point about Socratic teaching:
In short, even if our only goal is to teach doctrine, we need to think about ways to force our students to engage with the doctrine so that it gets into their long-term memory. The Socratic Method may lead to this engagement, but it is also relatively easy for students to become passive participants in a Socratic class, especially if the class is the soft-Socratic style more common today. The next question is whether doctrinal professors should have broader goals for our students beyond simply understanding and remembering the doctrine.
In other words, Socratic teaching doesn't work very well these days at promoting doctrinal learning and it really doesn't work at instilling practical skills like drafting and planning. (Of course, it helps that she cites me.)
I'm gradually implementing Erickson's recommendations, starting with setting out learning objectives for each course and each class within the course. Today, for example, I'll be teaching my Mergers and Acquisitions students about what motivates clients to merge. Hence, my very first PowerPoint slide will be:
Early days, of course. But I hope that developing learning objectives will help me think more deeply about what I want to accomplish on a given day, which in turn will feedback into more effective learning objectives.
Next step? Developing effective assessment tools.
