Abstract
New law students traditionally learn better when they can connect what they are learning to a familiar non-legal experience. Analogies allow students to build on a familiar network of knowledge, making the learning more comfortable and the material more accessible. Integrating the use of analogies into the teaching of legal analysis and writing in a systematic way is a powerful teaching device. It is one that easily can break down the processes of legal research, analysis, and writing into simpler terms, thereby helping new law students understand, develop, and ultimately master these essential lawyering skills. This Article therefore proposes that faculty incorporate analogies into their classroom teaching by experimenting with interesting and engaging ways to connect all parts of the curriculum to the students’ existing knowledge base. This proposal has its roots in cognitive learning theory, which expounds that experts use prior knowledge or contexts, referred to as schemata by cognitive psychologists, to facilitate problem solving.
Recommended Citation
Patricia Montana,
The Cognitive Power of Analogies in the Legal Writing Classroom,
45
S. Ill. U. L.J.
311
(2021).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol45/iss2/4