Despite what some students believe, there is far more to business law education than mastering myriad legal rules governing business. In addition to learning the "rules," many business law instructors want students to obtain a basic understanding of legal analysis and judicial decision-making. This article provides guidance for…

Business law faculty enjoy the privilege to engage in scholarly activities with a practical bent. As business law faculty learn from their reading, thinking, and writing, they can share this learning with their students. Many of these students will earn leadership positions with direct influence on business practices. When scholarship nudges the…

For a business law class at any level or format, a field trip to a court is critical to bridge the gap between theory and practice. This article encourages legal studies instructors to utilize field trips to a court as an experiential learning opportunity for business law and legal studies courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels for…

This article explains how to build an interdisciplinary course about global problem-solving that is anchored in business law yet draws substantially from many other fields. In 2020, Liz Brown developed and led a teaching team composed of fourteen faculty members and learning center leaders from across Bentley University to deliver a pilot course…

On May 29-31, 2019, the School of Business at the University of Connecticut hosted the "Summit on the Academic Profession of Business Law" (summit). The purpose of this summit was to identify and disseminate best academic practices from thought leaders; acquire professional development of teaching, research, and service initiatives; and…

The author shares his perspectives of teaching law for over forty years. In this article, he recalls his experiences with students, colleagues, and exams. Early in his career, he learned an important life lesson that he remembers nearly every day: if you love your job, it is not really work. He feels this is the most important perspective that he…

In this article, the author shares his thoughts on being a "scholarly" teacher. He points out that engaging in scholarly activity, which includes publishing as well as other ways to engage with relevant research, like reviewing and editing for journals, can lead to better teaching. This sort of scholarly commitment allows an instructor to maintain…

The transition into academia from law school or legal practice is a significant and exciting shift in one's legal career. This transition, however, can also be one that presents numerous challenges. Preparing a syllabus and drafting lecture material can seem like a daunting task. Writing an academic article for the first time involves learning a…

In Academic Year 2010-11, the author's 25th year in the undergraduate classroom at Loyola University Maryland, a confluence of circumstances renewed her interest in motivation, "the level of enthusiasm and the degree to which students invest attention and effort in learning." She became interested in motivation because, that year, she…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an active learning classroom environment is more effective in teaching university students certain concepts of business law than the traditional lecture environment. To generate data to answer this question, over a seven-semester period beginning in fall semester 2005, six classes of Legal…

Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, higher education was swept up in the theoretical phenomena of mastery learning, cooperative learning, and small-group learning. Professors, instructors, and teachers at the K-12 level became facilitators, guides, supervisors, counselors, and advocates for all things team and group. The thought of a…

This article discusses the tensions between the federal government and the states in several areas in modern commerce where consumers and business have competing interests. First the article discusses traditional approaches to express preemption and the constitutional and economic policy behind its uses by Congress. Even when Congress expressly…

In this article, the author reflects on her continual journal in regard to improving her teaching skills. She opines that this journey is a story that could resonate with other colleagues to whom teaching is also critically important but to whom it does not come naturally. She describes lessons she learned in her early years of teaching, and she…

In September 2006, the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education released its final report entitled "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education" postulating that graduates today are lacking important skills such as reading, writing, problem solving, and critical thinking. In the field of…