Volume 5 Winter 2011 Number 2 - Charleston Law Review

CHARLESTON LAW REVIEW [Volume 5classrooms. 183 Certainly, the volume of scholarship devoted topedagogy bodes well for the advancement of legal education.While the learning styles-matching hypothesis and theefficacy of learning style assessments have been sharplydisputed, recognizing the diversity of learners in the law schoolclassroom is beneficial. This is especially true as law schools aimfor inclusiveness and diversity within the student, staff, andfaculty populations. 184 Consideration of learning preferences canprovoke more creativity in legal education as educators grapplewith finding the optimal method for teaching within thediscipline. Students’ purported learning preferences are simplyone dimension of the diversity of factors that influence learning.183. See, e.g., Christine N. Coughlin et al., See One, Do One, Teach One:Dissecting the Use of Medical Education’s Signature Pedagogy in the LawSchool Curriculum, 26 GA. ST. U. L. REV. 361 (2010); Douglas K. Rush &Suzanne J. Schmitz, Universal Instructional Design: Engaging the Whole Class,19 WIDENER L.J. 183 (2009); Larry O. Natt Gantt, II, Deconstructing ThinkingLike a Lawyer: Analyzing the Cognitive Components of the Analytical Mind, 29CAMPBELL L. REV. 413 (2007).184. Prompted by the ABA Presidential Initiative Commission on Diversity,the ABA recently released its report and recommendations for increasingdiversity across the profession. See generally American Bar Association,Presidential Diversity Initiative, Diversity in the Legal Profession: TheNext Steps (2010), available at http://new.abanet.org/centers/diversity/PublicDocuments/Next%20steps%20Final-virtual%20Accessible%20042010.pdf;Gail S. Stephenson & Linda C. Fowler, Keeping It Real: Developing a Culturallyand Personally Relevant Legal Writing Curriculum, 10 J. GENDER RACE & JUST.67 (2006) (arguing for the consideration of diversity factors in course design).172