The Teaching of Criminal Law provides the first considered discussion of the pedagogy that should inform the teaching of criminal law. It originates from a survey of criminal law courses in different parts of the English-speaking world which showed significant similarity across countries and over time. It also showed that many aspects of substantive law are neglected. This prompted the question of whether any real consideration had been given to criminal law course design. This book seeks to provide a critical mass of thought on how to secure an understanding of substantive criminal law, by examining the course content that best illustrates the thought process of a criminal lawyer, by presenting innovative approaches for securing active learning by students, and by demonstrating how criminal law can secure other worthwhile graduate attributes by introducing wider contexts. This edited collection brings together contributions from academic teachers of criminal law from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland who have considered issues of course design and often implemented them. Together, they examine several innovative approaches to the teaching of criminal law that have been adopted in a number of law schools around the world, both in teaching methodology and substantive content. The authors offer numerous suggestions for the design of a criminal law course that will ensure students gain useful insights into criminal law and its role in society. This book helps fill the gap in research into criminal law pedagogy and demonstrates that there are alternative ways of delivering this core part of the law degree. As such, this book will be of key interest to researchers, academics and lecturers in the fields of criminal law, pedagogy and teaching methods.

This volume shows how university and college professors can create an engaging environment that encourages students to take a deep approach to learning through the use of popular culture stories in law school and in criminal justice classrooms. The use of popular culture (films, TV shows, books, songs, etc.) can enhance the deep learning process by helping students develop cognitive skills, competencies, and practices that are essential for the professional practice of law and criminal justice and which are often neglected in traditional law school and criminal justice curricula. The book covers such topics as: critical thinking skills in legal and criminal justice education the role of popular culture in educating for rapid cognition factors that foster intrinsic motivation using storytelling in law and criminal justice teaching with popular culture stories popular culture and media literacy in the classroom lawyers and criminal justice agents and their dealings with the press influence of popular culture stories in the legal and criminal justice fields regulations for the use of media texts in the legal and criminal justice fields how stereotyping is influenced by popular media how to prepare a promising syllabus or course outline This unique book is the result of the author’s many years of teaching as well as of many meaningful discussions in seminars and teaching and learning workshops that he facilitated. This very easy-to-read and entertaining volume will show readers how to enhance their classes by creating a motivating and engaging environment that will foster students’ deep learning experiences.

Criminal Law: Problems, Statutes, and Cases combines effective, innovative teaching methods, such as the use of problems and visual materials, with cases, including recent opinions on bias intimidation, possession of child pornography, threatening speech on social media, and theft of computer code. Key features include: A problem methodology. The book incorporates problem methodology with extensive use of problems, many based on recent cases. A statutory approach. A primary goal of the book is teaching skills in interpreting and, to a lesser degree, writing statutes. Visual materials. Visual materials include: (1) diagrammed crimes; (2) graphic exercises, such as having students create a timeline to compare and contrast various tests for the conduct element in attempt; and (3) video clip recommendations from a wide range of movies and TV shows such as The Wire and Breaking Bad.

For the first time there is a Criminal Law textbook specifically geared to Master's level or undergraduate legal studies/law courses on the subject. The book, written by well-known legal scholars, fills a void. Master's In Legal Studies programs have become quite commonplace in the United States, and, additionally there are colleges experimenting with new undergraduate law programs. Faculty teaching in those programs, or teaching in Criminal Justice classes, however, typically have three imperfect choices if they want to use the case method of teaching law: 1) they use a Juris Doctor level casebook but assign substantially less material from the book; 2) they use a simplistic undergraduate or high school level textbook; or 3) they develop their own materials. This textbook, then, offers a perfect alternative. First, each chapter begins with an overview of the law on the subject covered for simple and easy access. The book that contains thought provoking problems designed to stimulate thought and produce interesting classroom discussion. The hypos are woven throughout the chapters and are designed to help students learn doctrine, illuminate trends in the law, and ultimately produce better learning. The book is also meant to teach practical skills to students going into the field. Some of the problems place students in practical situations that they are likely to encounter in a criminal justice career, and therefore encourage students to think about how they might handle those situations in real-life. The book is designed to be a very affordable paperback.

The Teaching of Criminal Law provides the first considered discussion of the pedagogy that should inform the teaching of criminal law. It originates from a survey of criminal law courses in different parts of the English-speaking world which showed significant similarity across countries and over time. It also showed that many aspects of substantive law are neglected. This prompted the question of whether any real consideration had been given to criminal law course design. This book seeks to provide a critical mass of thought on how to secure an understanding of substantive criminal law, by examining the course content that best illustrates the thought process of a criminal lawyer, by presenting innovative approaches for securing active learning by students, and by demonstrating how criminal law can secure other worthwhile graduate attributes by introducing wider contexts. This edited collection brings together contributions from academic teachers of criminal law from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland who have considered issues of course design and often implemented them. Together, they examine several innovative approaches to the teaching of criminal law that have been adopted in a number of law schools around the world, both in teaching methodology and substantive content. The authors offer numerous suggestions for the design of a criminal law course that will ensure students gain useful insights into criminal law and its role in society. This book helps fill the gap in research into criminal law pedagogy and demonstrates that there are alternative ways of delivering this core part of the law degree. As such, this book will be of key interest to researchers, academics and lecturers in the fields of criminal law, pedagogy and teaching methods.