We aim to benchmark teaching methodologies of our desi professors with those who are considered the best in the world. We want to create an interactive platform for free flow of ideas, opinions and best practices. So, if you know a teacher, who transfers knowledge innovatively please revert to us on benchmarking.dna@gmail.com
Courting Comparison - Article in DNA... Prof. Philip H Clarke, Dean, Faculty of Law and Business, Deakin University (Australia) 50 to 60 pairs of eyes, seated in an auditorium, gawk at you for three hours during a lecture in law. Your defence? A ‘Socratic’ style of teaching. A style where a view is much like a throw ball leaping from one student to another, clearing on the way a lot of concepts. Before coming to class students read the guide books that introduce a topic in detail. A class would start with me questioning a student (the spark plug moment). A power point presentation acts like a map for the whole discussion. The final destination would be quiz. At Deakin, students are on a level playing field cyber field. Deakin Study Online (DSO) is a web journal on which students shoot doubts that other students attempt to answer online. (Thus the throw ball crosses the ‘net’ and enters the virtual world.) On the DSO, audio and video recordings of the class are uploaded. Students with marks above 95 percent at school are admitted.
A semester lasts for 13 weeks. All the drama centered around the moot courts. These teach students mooting, presenting and team work. Students are expected to intern two weeks in a year. Students also proceed on what is called the clerkship programme, for six weeks. They could intern at law firms, barristers chambers and even at the parliament.
Evaluation is divided into four parts---a case study, moot court session, a multiple choice question paper and a semester – end paper. Students can look at a bright career once they graduate with a degree in law. The class is now adjourned.
Sunita Masani, part – time lecturer, Government Law College, Mumbai 80 – 120 legal eagles (eaglets, actually) are present for the ‘hearing’. The creases on students’ foreheads turn into one big on the lips when I relate a humourous anecdote pertaining to the time when I was a student at the GLC. Once the ice is broken, I surf the syllabus, suggested readings and important exam questions. I’ll present my case in pedagogy to you. The class at GLC is now in session, paper under review: property law. In the orientation class I talk about the basic statute, its history and arrangement of sections. The jurisprudential and substantive aspects are looked at. A refined legal eye should know the technique of how to “read” the law (and read between the lines).
I present the law in a manner that is easy for the students to assimilate, retain and apply in real life situations. A twenty-year-old has never transferred immovable property. The solution? An academic twist to Shakespeare’s famous line---All class is a stage and students merely players. I make students play roles. Abhinav would play the role of a purchaser while Vinita would be the lessor. I integrate the values of professional ethics and honesty. I ask students to address the class after a session of self study. They learn how to take to the floor and make their case. A annual exam is the final judgement. Close to three dozen moot court sessions are held in a year. Students also do internships with lawyers and law firms. These could result in students finding a job, an out of class settlement, you could say.