When Fordham Law suspended all in-person classes in response to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, professors were forced to transform their teaching methods overnight. For the majority of the faculty, the decision was an abrupt shift into the uncharted waters of remote instruction. The change posed particular challenges for a legal curriculum. The Socratic method, synonymous with legal education, relies on interactive discussion fomented by questions—and traditionally involves cold-calling students. How would such an integral part of the law school classroom experience play out in a virtual setting?
The transition from in-class to online learning was a quick one: On Monday, March 9, Fordham University announced the closure of all of its campuses, with the promise that professors would conduct their classes virtually by Wednesday, March 11. Many law professors worked to enact an even quicker turnaround to ensure their classes that meet on Tuesdays wouldn’t miss a vital session.
“The faculty has been amazing in making this transition,” said Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Linda Sugin. “They’re working incredibly hard to replicate the [in-class] experience for their students.” In the days after the closure of campus, Sugin spearheaded the creation of a pedagogy committee involving 30 faculty members who volunteered to strategize the move online, share their experiences with virtual instruction, and offer advice to their colleagues.
Many professors turned to Zoom for their classroom technology, which quickly emerged as the preferred medium for teaching due to features that simulate a real classroom, like a “Raise Hands” function, breakout groups, and polls. The Socratic method, it seems, functions nearly as well online as it does in the classroom, according to several Fordham Law professors. “I try to make it as normal as possible,” said Professor Deborah Denno of her 61-person Criminal Law class. “Like our regular class, I cold-call on people from a list I make.” As she and her students get more used to the “new normal,” the classes run more and more smoothly.
Some professors have found unexpected benefits in the new format. For example, breaking larger classes into small discussion groups turns out to be quicker and more seamless than in a physical classroom, and some students feel more confident interacting via a video chat than they might be in a room full of their peers. “A lot of people who didn’t normally speak as much when we met face-to-face spoke a lot more,” noted Denno, whose Tuesday morning discussion group met the day after the suspension of her live class.
“Ironically, [Zoom] has opened up the conversation as opposed to reducing it, as people feared might happen,” remarked Professor Tanya Hernandez, who is teaching a Trust and Wills upper-level course this semester and advises doctoral and LLM students. “I have different people contributing than those who were asking questions earlier in the session. The ‘usual suspects’ are not dominating like they used to.”
The chat function in videoconferencing has also been a positive surprise. Professor Clare Huntington, who took her Family Law class and Poverty Law seminar online on March 10, noted that asking every student to provide a short answer to a question using the chat feature “takes the pulse of the classroom in a really substantive way in under the space of a minute.” Hernandez echoed the sentiment, saying, “Students formulate more targeted, focused, and interesting questions when they have to write them down.”
The technology is not without its hiccups. In a larger class—like Hernandez’s Trust and Wills class, with 90 students, or Professor James Brudney’s Legislation and Regulation class, with 89—the Zoom interface can prove frustrating, as the professor cannot see all of their students at once. “When I’m teaching a live class and looking out over a sea of faces, I can usually tell if I’ve lost some students,” explained Brudney.
Professors have given their students extra leeway—additional time will be given to take finals, and all the classes will be graded pass/fail. Some have offered their students the option to privately message them should they be unable to prepare for in-class cold-calling due to extenuating circumstances, but very few have taken advantage of the option.
“I’m really struck by how resilient the students are,” remarked Denno. She explained that many of the students are dealing not only with completing their classwork and studies remotely, but also with navigating caring for children who are out of school or relatives who have fallen ill. Those responsibilities do not seem to have hampered many of the students in their work. “I’ve been impressed by how well-prepared, persistent, and thoughtful the students have been,” said Brudney.
Despite the convenience of videoconferencing technology, most of the faculty is eager to return to in-person teaching. “You miss the ineffable quality of the real-life classroom,” said Huntington, who admits Zoom lacks the emotional connection found in a live class. “If I tell a joke, I can’t hear them laughing. Yes, I get their feedback, but it’s mediated through the Zoom format.”