What's Wrong With Teaching Facts To Constitutional Law Students—: Rebuttal To a Colleague

Abstract

This brief article is in response to Professor Langran's article in Teaching Political Science, April 1978 issue entitled “What's Wrong with Facts?” The thrust of this rebuttal is that my colleague is wrong on two counts: (1) he places too much emphasis on facts as learning ends in themselves and consequently, he treats all judicial decisions as equally important; and (2) he reinforces role learning and rewards memorization in his evaluation instruments. Although students should provide supporting evidence on examinations, Professor Langran's emphasis on case-decision identification is misplaced, especially in a liberal arts curriculum. He readily admits that his pedagogical style is tailored to meet the needs of his pre-law students. By considering his constitutional law courses as preparation for law school, he neglects the development of skills and values traditionally associated with liberal education. This article provides a different perspective to the teaching of law-related courses in a liberal arts context.