Legal Research and Writing(LRW) faculty at STCL Houston adapted to pandemic demands, excelled in delivering exceptional legal education through virtual and hybrid methods, and led their contemporaries in raising the bar in the 2020-2021 school year. Faculty members fully integrated technology into their courses, developing a balance between synchronous and asynchronous components to prepare students to be nimble and adaptable for practice in the dynamic legal environment.
Several professors chaired and contributed to faculty committees and working groups, sharing best practices for online education, providing workshops on emotional health and well-being, and organizing efforts that fostered student engagement, increased efficiencies, and improved student performance.
Collaboration played a key role in the department’s effective response. Using Lexis Classroom, LRW faculty created a shared library of asynchronous resources — including videos, teaching documents, discussion board topics, polling tools, and writing assignments — to support their online instruction.
“It was an inspiring, exciting, and collaborative effort, said Professor Maxine Goodman. “Some of the resources we developed to make online courses more engaging will be equally engaging when we return to the classroom full time.”
In addition to academic solutions, the LRW faculty recognized the heightened need to build social and emotional connections during this period of virtual learning.
“Because of the smaller class sizes, LRW is often the home base for 1Ls; it gives them a sense of place,” Goodman said. “Even though we didn’t have face-to-face contact, we wanted to ensure our students still felt connected and engaged.”
Professors found unique ways to build community. Often, this meant sticking around on Zoom after class to catch up with students, share personal stories, and answer questions. At the end of the semester, Goodman even hosted an online talent show for her students. They showed up for the challenge — demonstrating a vibrant array of skills, from singing to cross-stitch and nunchaku routines.
“The pandemic has been challenging, but it also has reinforced what we already knew: connection is so important to success in the classroom. I’m thankful we found ways to keep that at the forefront this year.”