Shawn Marie Boyne, Indiana University, Robert H. McKinney School of Law: “Disaster in the Classroom: Using Simulations to Teach National Security Law
Shawn Marie Boyne teaches at Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Drawing from her experience planning two successful counterterrorism simulations, Professor Boyne’s talk, “Disaster in the Classroom: Using Simulations to Teach National Security Law,” was presented in the Simulations, Feedback, and Assessment Pod at the 2014 Igniting Law Teaching conference. In this talk, she highlights keys to both planning and executing a successful simulation. Drawing on humorous “missteps” from her own experience, she encourages facilitators to stay focused on the skills and knowledge that the simulation is designed to test. While it is easy to plan an event that will challenge your students, it is important to structure the simulation to stay focused on the exercise’s core decision-making dilemma.
This video is part of a video collection from the Igniting Law Teaching, hosted by LegalED at American University Washington College of Law. Responding to the calls for legal education reform, the conference -- the first of its kind -- created a forum for professors experimenting with cutting edge technologies and techniques in law teaching with the goal of spreading their ideas to the broader community. The talks were modeled on TEDx Talks, with each speaker on stage alone, giving a well scripted and performed talk about an aspect of law school pedagogy. The goal of LegalED is to curate a growing collection of short, 10-minute videos on law school-related pedagogy that will inspire innovation and experimentation by law professors to bring more active learning and practical skills training into the law school curriculum. This videos, and others like it, are available on LegalED, a website developed by a community of law professors interested in using online technologies to facilitate more active, problem-based learning in the classroom, in addition to more assessment and feedback.
Prior to entering academia, Professor Boyne practiced law for nearly a decade. She is a Co-Chair of the Global Crisis Leadership Forum – an interdisciplinary partnership which brings together experts and practitioners in the field of global crisis management, national security, and cybercrime. The forum organizes courses, workshops, and forum discussions that enhance individual and institutional resiliency to both man-made and natural crises and disasters.
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.