The AALS Poster Project: Christine E. Rollins' Turning the Light Bulbs On - Effective Ways To Teach CREAC To All Types Of Student Lawyers

Christine E. Rollins presented the poster, Turning the Light Bulbs On - Effective Ways To Teach CREAC To All Types Of Student Lawyers:

Professor Rollins is the Director of Legal Research and Writing at the St. Louis University School of Law, a position that she has held since 2007.  According to the St. Louis University School of Law website, she 

implemented a unique teaching program that assists professors in their teaching based on their students’ learning style. It was because of this program that Professor Rollins and SLU LAW was sited by The National Jurist as being named one of the “Most Innovative Law Schools.” 

In addition to her academic duties, Rollins has successfully argued before the Missouri Court of Appeals-Eastern District and the Supreme Court of Missouri, successfully prosecuting ten appellate cases. Some of her articles include, Statutory Assistance for Attorneys Providing Pro Bono Services, 60 Journal of the Missouri Bar 112 (May/June 2004), and Using the VARK: A Writing Department's Commitment to "Turning the Light Bulbs On," 22 The Second Draft 13 (Spring 2008).

Her poster is related to this latter article, and here is her description of the poster:

In the spring of 2009 the Legal Research and Writing Department at Saint Louis University School of was sited by The National Jurist as being named one of the “Most Innovative Law Schools”.  The attached poster presentation captures the concepts of this approach.

In the fall of 2007, the Legal Research and Writing Department made a commitment to adapt our classroom teaching styles to more fully engage our students through their personal learning style preferences.  Students learning style preferences were assessed by a computer software program.  The results given are: visual, audio, reader/writer, kinesthetic, or multimodal. The faculty then created and adapted teaching tools and techniques which allow them to present skills and objectives within the classroom tailored to the needs of the students based upon their individual learning styles.   The poster presentation provides an example for each learning style. 

-CM