John M. Bickers, N. Kentucky University: Chase College of Law: “How Non-Bar Tested Electives Can Teach Lawyering”
John Bickers is a Professor of Law at the Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. He gave his talk, “How Non-Bar Tested Electives Can Teach Lawyering,” at LegalED’s 2014 Igniting Law Teaching conference with the Beyond Traditional Law Subjects Pod. Professor Bickers presentation suggests that true electives in the law school curriculum offer the freedom to teach the students how to be lawyers. He tells of his National Security Law course, in which students had no casebooks, working in teams to research the legal backgrounds for crises, and telecommunicated from separate classrooms to conduct interagency meetings to prepare advice for the president.
Professor Bickers began his career with the Army and served there for two decades, mostly as an Army Judge Advocate. He now teaches Constitutional Law and Professional Responsibility at N. Kentucky University, and his research interests include Establishment Clause and military commissions (one of his articles was quoted by the Supreme Court). On fall Sundays he claims fantasy football is a “research interest” as well, but he has yet to produce any articles on that field.
LegalED aims to harness the power of the internet for legal educations. It facilitates blended or flipped learning – by migrating lectures to the web, LegalED frees up classtime for active learning that challenges students to learn the essential lawyering competencies while they are in law school. Professors may assign the videos in any combination for students to view outside of the classroom for active learning that challenges students to learn the essential lawyering competencies while they are in law school. LegalED seeks to develop and maintain a vibrant online community of teachers and students of the law, creating a central hub for the community. Through the video collection, teachers can be inspired to borrow, adapt, and bring great teaching moments into their own courses. With an internet platform, LegalED opens up formerly isolated classrooms by sharing showcasing, celebrating and inspiring innovative teaching. Simply put, the vision of LegalED is to inspire innovation in legal education. Join the movement!
The LegalED 2015 Igniting Law Teaching conference will take place on Friday, March 20th, from 9am to 6pm. Register to attend in person or live stream the event.