Abstract
There are few published studies investigating the effectiveness of hybrid formats at the program level in graduate legal education. A hybrid Juris Doctorate (J.D.) program launched by a Midwestern institution was the first ABA-accredited law degree program with a substantial online learning component. This study takes a mixed methods approach (both quantitative and qualitative) to evaluate student outcomes and the extent to which the hybrid program expands access to legal education. The study compares student outcomes in the hybrid program with full-time and part-time traditional, in-person programs at the same institution. After three terms of data collection, findings suggest that student outcomes and engagement are comparable across formats when controlling for student background characteristics and prior achievement. Evidence suggests that the hybrid option may increase access to legal education but is insufficient to determine whether the hybrid program will increase availability of legal services in underserved areas.
Highlights
The global pandemic has created large amounts of uncertainty in higher education
The current study examines the adoption of hybrid models of education within graduate legal education, which expands the current field by paying needed attention to a graduate-level degree program that blends online and face-to-face instruction in legal education (Means, 2009; Schmid, 2014)
How is the hybrid program under study structured? What are the key differences from the traditional formats, both full-time and part-time?
Summary
The global pandemic has created large amounts of uncertainty in higher education. Institutions and programs that have been willing and able to adapt and be flexible during this time are well-suited to meet their students’ and communities’ changing1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)needs as we all navigate this new future. Hybrid and online instruction have gone from modalities that only a handful of programs use to a more mainstream and normalized way of delivering instruction, even if only for short periods of time. These alternative modalities have allowed students, faculty, and staff to continue learning in safer conditions. The study contributes to the growing field of literature comparing online, in-person, and hybrid/blended learning formats. It constitutes the first evaluation of a hybrid Juris Doctorate program. It addresses a call for rigor and reliability (Lack, 2013) by reporting on a range of student outcomes, including multiple student academic outcome metrics and indicators of student engagement and experience
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