Volume 5 Winter 2011 Number 2 - Charleston Law Review

CHARLESTON LAW REVIEW [Volume 5likely to learn in small groups or teams than independently ascompared with the general student population, 175 some authorshave stressed the importance of cooperative learning experiencesin law school. 176V. CONCLUSIONIn a profession like law, which affords and demands life-longlearning, students need to acquire conscious and self-directedlearning methods to develop their talents and overcome theirweaknesses. 177 They must be open to considering new ways oflearning. Thus, if learning style assessments are presented as away to measure preferences or habits rather than immutable“styles,” they could assist law students in recognizing thestrengths and weaknesses in how they approach their legalstudies. This is particularly true if the identified “styles” areproperly contextualized; that is, if students understand the manyways in which critical information will be presented to them overthe course of their careers. For example, the importance ofcritical reading skills can be stressed for students who identify as“auditory” learners.Additionally, judging from the scholarship, those whoconsider law student learning styles appear to be at the forefrontof the movement away from empty mimicry of the traditionalcasebook method and Socratic Method. Although those methodshave certain pedagogical benefits, 178 the case has been made thatthey are not enough. By considering the diversity of learners intheir classroom, law faculties are developing creative and activeexercises designed to enhance the acquisition of critical legal175. Boyle, Minneti & Honigsfed, supra note 12, at 158–59.176. STUCKEY ET AL., supra note 3, at 88-89.177. Id. at 122–23. The metacognitive approach enables “learners to choosethe most appropriate learning strategy from a wide range of options to fit theparticular task in hand; but it remains an unanswered question as to how farlearning styles need to be incorporated into metacognitive approaches.” Coffield,Should We Be Using Learning Styles?, supra note 10, at 50.178. The use of evolving hypotheticals fosters analytical skills and assistsstudents in transferring legal principles learned in one factual setting toanother, for example.170