Who Do We Teach? Maxim Tomoszek, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic Anna Cody, Kingsford Legal Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Leah Wortham, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. July 27, 2015

Session Objectives To think more deeply about who our students are To study how we teach our students To identify which students we find easier to teach and which students are harder for us to teach To analyse how the characteristics of our students impact our course design and explore how to design courses so that our teaching is effective

Session Objectives To explain motivational theory, autonomy, purpose and mastery as ways of improving our teaching outcomes To show different modes of teaching in order to model varying methodology

John Biggs Teaching & Understanding Understanding

Small Groups Draw a horizontal line on your flipchart. Plot how well you think you achieve with your teaching outcomes with 0 as completely unsatisfied and 10 as highly satisfied. Green post-it: What student characteristics help learning outcomes? Red post-it: What student characteristics stop best learning outcomes?

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation Intrinsic ◦ one’s own sense of self ◦ sense of purpose consistent with one’s own values ◦ focus growing & improving, not comparing to others ◦ based in one’s own sense of satisfaction

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation Extrinsic ◦ what other people think (or one thinks they think) ◦ meet other people’s standards ◦ comparing oneself to others ◦ external rewards: grades, money, bonuses

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation Autonomous (intrinsic) motivation ◦ matches positively with persistence ◦ helps creativity  creativity undermined by “being watched, evaluated, bossed, or rewarded”  helps conceptual understanding & helps flexible thinking  greater levels of psychological well- being; less anxiety, depression, & burnout

Self-determination theory Research (which applies across cultures) on what gives people a sense of well-being Autonomy: sense of control of one’s own life, acting “authentically” to fit with one’s own values Mastery: feel able to something that matters Relatedness: connection to others and a community beyond oneself

Three common measures of autonomy support Choice giving Meaningful rationale giving; where no choice can be given, authority explains why Perspective taking: authority figures show they are aware of and care about the point of view of the subordinate

Sheldon & Krieger measures for autonomy support What has your impression been of teachers in your program? ◦ Most of my teachers provide me choices and options ◦ I feel able to share my feelings with my teachers ◦ My teachers generally listen to how I would like to do things

Krieger & Sheldon recent study of 6000 practicing lawyers What Makes Lawyers Happy?: A Data-Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success, 83 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 554 (2015).

What does this information mean for our teaching Helping student intrinsic motivation Doing what we can to help students resist the pull of extrinsic competition Using autonomy-supportive teaching techniques Consciously building student mastery Encouraging community & relatedness

For more information Leah Wortham, Catherine F. Klein, Beryl Blaustone, Autonomy- Mastery-Purpose: Structuring Clinical Courses to Enhance these Critical Educational Goals, 18 I NT. J. C LINICAL L EGAL E D. 103 (2012).

Second small group What changes in your teaching have you thought about based on the discussion so far?

Reflection on what we did and why

Articles mentioned Leah Wortham, Catherine F. Klein, Beryl Blaustone, Autonomy-Mastery-Purpose: Structuring Clinical Courses to Enhance these Critical Educational Goals, 18 I NT. J. C LINICAL L EGAL E D. 103 (2012). Lawrence S. Krieger & Kennon M. Sheldon, What Makes Lawyers Happy?: A Data-Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success, 83 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 554 (2015).