Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

As a new generation of students, Generation Z, enter law school, educators must continually adapt and improve to be the most effective in their roles. While traditional teaching methods like Socratic dialogue, the case method, and experiential learning are all valuable to varying degrees, law professors can gain further insight by exploring additional teaching approaches.

As law professors welcome Gen Z to their classrooms, how can they ensure they are adapting to the needs of this cohort? Could gaining an understanding of Gen Z’s prior educational experiences provide law professors with additional insight?

This Article argues that law professors can draw inspiration from pedagogical approaches in primary and secondary education to increase law student outcomes and promote successful learning. It proposes a conceptual framework built from evidence-based research on the influences of student achievement that legal educators can use. That framework is largely based on education academic John Hattie’s research called “Visible Learning”—considered the largest synthesis of meta-analyses relating to student achievement.

When John Hattie began his research on performance indicators, models of measurement, and valuation of teaching and learning, he was interested in one simple question: In terms of student achievement, what works best?

Drawing from a body of existing research, Hattie collected a large number of studies (over 2,100 meta-analyses) related to an influence of some program, policy, or innovation on academic achievement in an educational setting—mostly derived from the K-12 sector. These meta-analyses were comprised of more than 130,000 studies involving over 400 million students. Aggregating the data that was generated from these meta-analyses, Hattie then calculated an effect size (or “score”) for each influence, according to its bearing on student achievement, using Cohen’s d as the effect size statistical measure.

This Article first examines Hattie’s research and its impact on K-12 education, then proposes an instructional framework that highlights high-effect size strategies adaptable to the law school classroom. Additionally, it provides several examples for law professors to incorporate into their teaching.

Although some strides have been made in legal education based on contributions from other disciplines, such as neuroscience, sociology, and cognitive psychology, there has been little research on the impact of those strategies in the law school classroom. Public funding and policy initiatives often prioritize K-12 education, resulting in more investment in educational research at that level. Therefore, law professors can benefit from exploring the instructional strategies proven effective in K-12 evidence-based studies on student learning.

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