Flipping the Classroom to Teach Workplace ADR in an Intensive Environment

Simulations are playing an increasing role in law school instruction. Sometimes they are added to doctrinal case-method classes, but in such settings they may be undervalued by students and student participants may be distracted by the demands on their time of competing commitments. Some courses, such as trial advocacy, are almost entirely simulation-based but are often perceived as giving theory and doctrine short shrift. This article discusses an approach that we believe avoids the problem of distractions from competing commitments and integrates theory and doctrine into a simulation-based skills course. Borrowing from the STEM disciplines, we employed the “flipped classroom” technique in a concentrated weeklong simulation-based ADR in the Workplace class. In this article, we discuss how students were taught theory and doctrine before setting foot in the classroom, describe how we conducted several complex simulations, and explain how we used the simulations as vehicles for exploring not only advocacy techniques but also the theory and doctrine that the students had learned prior to the in-person classes. We explain how these techniques can be applied to other doctrinal courses.