Coverage of the Master Teacher Competition and Winners

2023 Master Teacher Finalists Announced

5/17/2023

Kylie S. Aikey, Bucknell University, Freeman College of Management, Escape the Professor's Office - Escape Room

The what - an escape room for Business Law II students; the where - my office; the when - at the beginning of the semester; the why - to refresh students on topics learned in Business Law I and to introduce the style of learning and collaboration expected from this course; and the how - the typical escape room, students work as a unit to solve puzzles to gain access to boxes that uncover the code to free them from my office.

Cheryl L. Black, Belmont University, Jack C. Massey School of Business, Hear Me Out: A Lesson in Civil Discourse

Civil discourse is the bedrock upon which the legal system is built, legal disputes are argued, and legal decisions are made. As such, it is a critical component of business law and ethics course pedagogy. However, today’s polarization, gaslighting, and cancel culture threaten the existence of civil discourse in the public arena and in the classroom. Hear Me Out: A Lesson in Civil Discourse is a class exercise that critically examines civil discourse and introduces guiding principles on how to argue respectfully. This framework has helped students engage more readily in class discussions and group assignments that involve the critical analysis of legal and ethical issues facing businesses.

Sean Shannon, State University of New York at Oneonta, School of Liberal Arts and Business, Living in the Zone: Using Richard Rothstein's The Color of Law and Residential Zoning Maps to Teach Business Law and the Legal Framework of Residential Segregation

There is an adage that once you have seen something, you can never unsee it. That holds true for zoning and the physical nature of our communities. Students explore the zoning in their own communities and reflect upon their lived experience as it relates to residential segregation. In order to help students understand the role of business law and appreciate the residential geography in which they live, I have incorporated Richard Rothstein’s book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America into my Legal Environment of Business courses. Students have the opportunity to think about and consider the role of business law and de jure federal and state residential housing policies to create and perpetuate a legacy of residential racial and economic segregation in America.

Mark S. Shapiro, Miami Herbert Business School, The Business of Jury Trials: Calculated Risk or Trip to Vegas?

This highly interactive session will simulate jury dynamics and decision-making while illustrating the challenge to business in predicting jury outcomes and utilizing the jury system to resolve business disputes.

2022 Master Teacher Finalists Announced

6/1/2022

Professor Jody Blanke, Stetson-Hatcher School of Business, Mercer University, An Online Discussion: Ethics and The Case of the Nosey App

I will focus on the details of creating, executing, and grading the online discussion. I will provide a sample discussion (with student names redacted or changed) and will go through the grading process in detail (with a sample grading sheet). I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the variations in length, number of threads, and frequency of the discussions, as well as the reasons for and success of the various tweaks I have made over the years. I will discuss The Case of the Nosey App a little bit. I will highlight two of the more substantive legal lessons that students learn from this exercise: 1) how little privacy policies actually protect one’s privacy, and 2) that one should actually read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies before clicking “Okay.”

Professor Lynda J. Oswald, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, Introducing IP Law through the Use of Narratives, Props, and Audio / Visual Examples

This presentation addresses effective use of narratives, props and audio/visual examples in teaching IP law either in a specialized elective course or as a module in a survey course. I introduce IP law on the first day of the course or module by going through a number of examples and exercises. We return to these examples throughout the course or module to flesh out our discussion of IP law. Finally, we return to the main exercise (involving the Brannock Device) as our last activity on the final day of the course or module, which gives the students an opportunity to recognize and assess how much they have learned about IP law and strategy. These first-day examples and exercises support the course learning objectives by introducing the broad categories of IP law to students at the very beginning of the course or module, as well as illustrating the manner in which legal protections of IP can overlap, and the limitations of such protection.

Professor Rachel Spooner, Carroll School of Management, Boston College, The Impact of Statutes, Common Law, and Administrative Law on Inequality

The Impact of Statutes, Common Law, and Administrative Law on Inequality Assignment uses a research and writing assignment to facilitate a meaningful class discussion about the impact of housing laws on racial and wealth inequality. It deepens students’ understanding of the differences between statutes, common law, and administrative law.

Professor Abbey Stemler, Indiana University, Kelly School of Business and Professor Adam Sulkowski, Babson College, Incorporating a Wikipedia Editing Project into Your Business Law Course: A Surprisingly Easy, Plug-and-Play Way to Deliver Course Content and Improve Information Literacy Skills

You might have very strong opinions about Wikipedia. Many educators do. But as the 5th most visited website in the world and with over 50 million articles, it is likely that both you and your students have turned to the free encyclopedia—at least during initial research—at some point. Regardless of your preconceptions, incorporating Wikipedia editing into college courses is a proven and valuable way to enhance students’ writing and information literacy skills. It is also a dynamic way to teach course content. Over a three-year period at two very different institutions and with the help of various Wikipedia leaders and staff, we have refined how to incorporate Wikipedia editing projects into the business law classroom and are excited to share our replicable model with you.

2021 Master Teacher Finalists Announced

6/4/2021

6/4/2021

Prof. Michael Conklin, Angelo State University
Oops, Did You Offer to Sell a $30 Million Harrier Jet?
This classroom activity centers on a Pepsi commercial from the 1990s, available on YouTube, as a vehicle for exploring issues of contract law. The commercial featured a $30 million Harrier jet, which in theory would be available per contest rules for only $700,000. The Pepsi Points promotion in the commercial led to a real-life lawsuit. The classroom activity explores contract formation issues including offer, acceptance, advertisements as offers, the reasonable person standard, adequacy of consideration, and legality. It challenges students to consider practical, real-world implications beyond what the law dictates, including the merits of “winning” a lawsuit after years of litigation versus avoiding the lawsuit in the first place.

Prof. Debbie Kaminer, Baruch College/CUNY
Vaccines in the Time of COVID-19: Using Vaccine Mandates to Teach about the Legal and Ethical Regulation of Business
This presentation uses the question “Can government and businesses mandate the Covid-19 vaccine?” as a starting point for an interdisciplinary lesson appropriate for a variety of business law classes. Real world business dilemmas often have many parts to them, and this timely and engaging question pulls together different legal concepts including constitutional law, administrative law, stare decisis, the Commerce Clause, the Supremacy Clause and employment discrimination. The question also raises issues of ethics and behavioral economics, which will help students integrate their learning across disciplines. Additionally, the lesson will develop students’ analytical and critical thinking skills.

Prof. Evan A. Peterson, University of Detroit Mercy
Legal Analysis Complete? Congratulations, Your Work Is Only Half Done . . . Introducing the Home Depot Crisis Management Exercise
Businesses increasingly view legal knowledge as an empowering mechanism to create value, foster relationships, and manage future risk. Business law and legal environment courses should foster holistic examinations not only of legal analysis but also legal strategy, business strategy, and ethics. This classroom exercise introduces the Delphi Method technique for structuring group communication and building consensus. Students are asked to employ this method as they consider specifically how Home Depot should respond to a class-action lawsuit arising out of an alleged shoplifting incident.

Prof. Sean James Shannon, SUNY Oneonta
Beyond the Classroom Walls: Virtual Exchange and Collaborative Online International Learning Project for Teaching Business Law Students Contract Law: A Primer for International and Domestic Collaborative Learning
Recognizing the need for students to develop broader cultural understanding, a global perspective, and skills necessary to engage in negotiations and work with other international collaborators, this classroom exercise presents a collaborative international virtual classroom learning project to teach undergraduate business law students in the United State and Finland contract law. American and Finnish students work together as teams over several weeks to draft a contract for a US musician touring in Finland or a sponsorship contract for a Finnish athlete to market a soccer sneaker for a New York-based company. The project could equally be applied to domestic virtual exchange projects between college classes in the United States.

2020 Master Teacher Finalists Announced

7/2/2020

Jehan El-Jourbagy
Georgia College, J. Whitney Bunting College of Business
From the Classroom to the Courthouse

When I first taught Legal Environment of Business, I wanted the students to realize that this material does not occur within a vacuum -- everything we teach in class is borne out every day, not only in the workplace, but also in life. How could I get the students to draw these connections and look back on this class as a time when they learned not just academic but practical lessons? I immediately thought of getting them out of the classroom. Having worked in a local judicial circuit, I reached out to my colleagues and asked them, “If you would want students to know about the resources available at the courthouse and in the community, what would those resources be?” The answers to that question yielded this activity.

The first version included twenty questions that were submitted as one project. Over time, I reorganized the project and aligned the questions with material covered in each test and spaced out submissions to correspond to specific class lessons. Students now know where to go if they need to evict someone; they know where to go to apply for a business license. They meet representatives of the local Chamber of Commerce and can find the closest Superfund site to their homes. They learn, on a personal and practical level, how the Legal Environment of Business is applicable. And when the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, this assignment was adjusted to add new laws and realities and so students could complete it from home.

Christine A. Ladwig
Southeast Missouri State University, Harrison College of Business and Computing
Using Business Scenarios to Develop Student Skills in Strategic Legal & Ethical Decision Making

Can you devise a legal and ethical strategy that creates business value in the following scenarios?

Visitors to Walt Disney World deposit the cremains of loved ones in park landscaping and attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean…
Snapchat’s Speedometer Filter encourages users to superimpose their vehicle speed over snaps, resulting in multiple serious accidents with injuries and deaths…
A teenaged worker in a haunted house attraction nearly strangles to death while visitors think her accidental hanging is just part of the show….
Owners of the electronic security device Wink Hub learn that the company will begin charging a monthly subscription fee after posting for years that such a fee “would never happen.” Hub possessors who fail to pay the fee within a week will have their devices rendered useless…
After a tragic duck boat accident in Branson Missouri takes the life of seventeen people, the industry looks for ways to stay in business and keep passengers safe…

These situations and many others are typical of the complex—and sometimes dangerous— problems that businesses face on a daily basis. Leaders must devise and implement strategies that not only avoid short-term negative repercussions, but also strengthen and create ongoing value for the organization and its stakeholders.

To help students practice the skill of business decision making, I’ve designed scenarios that address three important aspects (pillars) of better decisions: formulating a Strategy, understanding the applicable Law, and applying Ethics. This “Three Pillar” practical framework—Strategy, Law and Ethics—enables students to experience making ethically responsible decisions that minimize risk and simultaneously create value for businesses and stakeholders.

Konrad S. Lee
Utah State University, Jon M. Huntsman School of Business
A Role-Play Exercise to Teach Lawful Debt Collection Practices

Role-play exercises are an effective active learning tool for teaching business law principles. Research has shown that role-play experiential learning exercises show better cognitive, affective, and interactive learning than other, often favored techniques, such as group assignments, case method, invited lecture, and electronic collaboration.

The role-play demonstrated in this exercise is very simple and yet very effective. It is a simulation of a telephone call from a credit collection agency to a debtor who is currently in default on a large credit card bill. Specifically, the instructor acts as a credit collections telephone caller seeking to extract payment from a debtor, who is played by a student. During the telephone conversation, the collection agency officer describes to the debtor efforts which have been taken by the agency to secure payment and tries to get the debtor to pay the debt. The script that the instructor follows, along with the student-debtor responses, illustrate various violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). Students present in the classroom, who are witnessing the exchange between the instructor and debtor-student during the mock collections call, seek to identify which collection practices violate the FDCPA. Following the role-play telephone call, the instructor elicits from students suggested FDCPA. Finally, using the Instructor Notes the instructor follows up on each response with an explanation of how the third-party debt collection caller ignored or violated the rules of the FDCPA.

Tonia Hap Murphy
University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business
Law in the Time of Coronavirus: How and Why to Cover Coronavirus Disruptions in a Business Law or Legal Environment Course

Students will have natural interest in relating the virus that has upended their lives to their coursework. This presentation provides materials and specific suggestions for covering coronavirus-related issues throughout a business law or legal environment course—connected with such diverse topics as civil procedure, constitutional law, criminal law, intellectual property, contracts, consumer protection, and corporate governance, among others. The materials link to over fifty resources, including video clips, court rulings, government and law firm advisories, news reports, law reviews, company press releases, and actual contracts. The materials aim to equip us to incorporate coverage of the pandemic in a knowledgeable, sensitive, and effective manner—integrating legal concepts with broader practical and strategic questions. Just as the life of every person has been affected by the 2020 pandemic, so too has the operation of every business, as these materials suggest. These examples will enhance our courses in the Fall 2020 term and beyond.

2019 Master Teacher Finalists Announced

6/6/2019

Daniel R. Cahoy
Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business
The Name Game
“This proposal seeks to bridge the gap between the legal, business and social world of trademarks. It describes a simple combination of exercises that can complement basic instruction to help students engage their emotional and strategic brains. Specifically, the combination first presents a debate on a key ethical issue in the midst of the basic instruction on the nature of trademarks. It then follows up with a realistic classroom exercise that requires students to apply business and legal skills in choosing a trademark, validated by classroom voting.”

Shawna Meyer Eikenberry
Indiana University, Kelley School of Business
Living with a Contract: Helping Students Understand the Importance of Contract Language and Negotiations
“Many textbooks deal with basic concerns of contract law – offer, acceptance, consideration, what law applies, consent to contract, possible remedies, etc. And these are important topics, no doubt. But in “real life,” the most common contract issues that business professionals address usually aren’t about these kinds of issues. Instead, they actually negotiate contract terms and decide whether to live with risks that come with accepting contract terms that they can’t negotiate. It is this kind of real life situation that this group of assignments and related lessons strive to illustrate.”

Michael R. Koval
Salisbury University, Perdue School of Business
You’ve Been Chopped! Energize Those End-of-term Student Presentations with Some Friendly Competition
“This proposal describes my end-of-term Tort Lawsuit Competition, which requires students to find and analyze a current lawsuit based in negligence that has been filed, but not yet heard, against a business or organization. Each student completes this task individually before the competition by finding a complaint and submitting a paper. In groups, the students choose one of their lawsuits to use for the competition. A Lightning Round provides all groups the opportunity to present their work on the same day in a fast-paced game show environment. The students vote as to which lawsuits they want to hear more about. The winners move on to the next class period, and the losers are chopped! This is a fun and educational way to wrap up a Legal Environment course, and can be used in classes of just about any size.”

Anthony L. McMullen
University of Central Arkansas
“The Simpsons” Teach Legal Environment of Business: Three Episode Clips to Teach Basic Principles of Negligence and Contract Law
“As a fan of the “The Simpsons,” I once contemplated authoring a blog akin to “Law and the Multiverse” (lawandthemultiverse.com), where I would write about various legal issues raised over the past thirty seasons. When I realized that time would not permit me to pursue this endeavor, I started incorporating episodes into my teaching.

I have adopted the flipped-classroom approach to teaching, which allows more time for showing how the law is applied rather than just explaining what the law is. Students are assigned reading and homework before class. I curate YouTube videos for students who are auditory learners, and I create voice-over PowerPoints to increase instructor presence and provide additional material on challenging topics. At the beginning of each class, I ask students if they have questions. Once any questions are resolved, I give the students ten minutes to review discussion questions (provided to students in advance) in small groups before having a full class discussion. While the discussion problems come from various sources (old essay questions, textbook case problems, hypotheticals that I make up), I enjoy classes where the students can discuss legal issues raised by “The Simpsons.” My Master Teacher presentation would show ALSB members how to incorporate the show into lectures on negligence, basic contracts, and promissory estoppel.”

2018 Master Teacher Finalists Announced

6/4/2018

Professor Michael Fricke
University of Illinois, Gies College of Business
HBO for ADR: Using TV's Silicon Valley to Understand Alternative Dispute Resolution
"This lesson uses a popular television show, HBO’s Silicon Valley, to present a surprisingly realistic, and legally accurate, example of an arbitration hearing. By comparing the fictional arbitration hearing to a typical litigation proceeding, students are able to understand ADR methods and how they differ from litigation. Second, by incorporating this lesson toward the end of the semester, students are able to synthesize and apply concepts learned earlier in the course to a scenario that incorporates issues of contract formation, ownership of intellectual property, and employer-employee relationships."

Professor Joshua Perry
Indiana University, Kelley School of Business
Using the Sadhu to Teach about Ethical Blindness
"Despite having a desire (or a mandate) to increase our students’ awareness of and sensitivity towards ethical issues in business, for a variety of reasons many business law professors struggle with this content-particularly when attempting to integrate ethics in the context of an already crowded business law course. This session discussing The Parable of the Sadhu and exploring the concept of “ethical blindness” presents an interactive opportunity to engage undergraduate, MBA, or executive education business students."

Professor Matt Roessing
University of Georgia, Terry College of Business
Introducing Frolick & DeTour, LLP
"The Frolick & DeTour role play brings experiential learning into the classroom. Three or four times per semester, actors posing as “clients” visit the classroom to consult with students on a legal problem. The students must apply what they’ve learned, giving the client some advice on the fly and then submitting a written memorandum with detailed analysis. Frolick & DeTour is an experience that students can take with them into the real world."

Professor Sean Shannon
State University of New York, College at Oneonta
Teaching Business Law Students the Basics of Civil Litigation through the Case of the Sleeping Yankee Fan
"At a Major League Baseball game held at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, April 13, 2014 between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees a fan was captured on television dozing in the stands during the game and ESPN sports announcers took note. From the less than two-minute verbal exchange between the announcers, subsequent fan blog commentary, and the image of a fan dozing at the game, a $10 million lawsuit ensued, a Decision and Order was entered, and a fun pedagogical exercise was realized."

2017 Master Teacher Finalists Named

5/26/2017

Professor Mystica M. Alexander
Bentley University
Using the Flipped Classroom to Teach Product Liability
"Course goals for our Legal Environment of Business course include: (1) Our students will practice critical thinking and analysis and will enhance their writing and communication skills. Using the flipped classroom approach allows for approximately 50 minutes of class time to be used for student debate on five separate product liability fact patterns and provides students with an interesting and fun approach to critically analyzing the legal aspects of product liability. This approach pushes students to focus on their critical thinking skills because for the majority of students engaging in a debate inspires them to give their best to "win" (by class vote) their side of the case."

Professor Cristen W. Dutcher
Kennesaw State University
Create a Law Day
"These one day, in class group activities engage students with the aspects of the law which they will most likely encounter in their futures. The learning objectives for the Create a Law Day activities are to foster critical thinking about the law by giving students an opportunity to identify legal issues in real world scenarios and then analyze how those issues can affect an outcome, which aligns with the objectives of identifying and interpreting the impact that the legal environment has on business situations. Each Day gives students an opportunity to create their own private laws, helping them see how the law can be a help to their lives and lessening any intimidation they may feel about the law."

Professor Debbie Kaminer
Baruch College/CUNY
The Meaning of “Sex”: Using Title VII’s Definition of Sex to Teach About the Legal Regulation of Business
"This lesson involves teaching about the complexities of the legal regulation of business in the United States through an analysis of whether Title VII’s prohibition on discrimination “because of . . . sex” includes discrimination based on sexual orientation. This is a timely and engaging question, and I have used this lesson in a course I teach on the Legal and Ethical Regulation of Business. I teach this lesson in the second half of the semester and I use it to pull together topics including statutory interpretation, jurisdiction, administrative law, stare decisis, the Commerce Clause and the Supremacy Clause. I also use this lesson to discuss ethical reasoning. In particular, I have students distinguish between whether discrimination based on sexual orientation is unethical, and what branch of government should get to decide if it is illegal."

Professor Ursula Ramsey
Limestone College
ADA Scavenger Hunt
Through this gamification teaching method "Students will demonstrate their knowledge of Title III of the ADA by participating in a scavenger hunt. Students will incorporate technology via use of camera phones. Students will develop effective communication and teamwork skills. Students will develop empathy for individuals covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act."

2016 Finalists Named

5/24/2016

After reviewing the highest number of submissions in several years, the panel of judges has named four finalists in the 2016 Charles M. Hewitt Master Teacher Competition. Each of the finalist submissions will be presented at the Master Teacher Symposium during the ALSB's annual conference in August. The finalists are...

Legal Academy Honors Michigan Ross Professor Lynda Oswald with Teaching Award

9/25/2015

Ross School of Business Professor Lynda Oswald has received national recognition for her teaching by being named the 2022 Charles M. Hewitt Master Teacher by the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

According to the academy, the competition “highlights the best classroom teaching, particularly the incorporation of new or evolving course subject matter, cultural contexts, pedagogy, and technology.” From a number of submissions, the academy selects four finalists who receive recognition and make teaching presentations to their academy colleagues at the group’s national conference. Oswald was voted the winner of the competition for her presentation titled “Introducing IP Law Through the Use of Narratives, Props, and Audio/Visual Examples.”

This fall will mark the 25th year that Oswald has taught Intellectual Property Law at Michigan Ross. The popular elective developed by Oswald typically draws enough MBA students to fill three sections of the course. As intangible assets are increasingly prominent on the balance sheets of business enterprises, knowledge of the legal concepts underlying patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret are critical to entrepreneurs and managers.

“I love teaching intellectual property law,” Oswald said. “Intellectual property assets have exploded in importance and value to businesses, and students recognize that and want to know more. It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by my peers, but the real joy comes from being able to share my passion with outstanding, engaged students each year at Ross.”

One of Oswald’s students, Emily Griffith, MBA '23, commented: "Dr. Oswald teaches Intellectual Property Law with incredible passion that makes every class enjoyable. It is so clear that she is deeply invested in the subject matter and has an impressive knowledge of it. The combination of her enthusiasm and attention to detail helps to make information digestible and also aids students in retaining their learnings beyond their time in her class.”
In 2020, the academy honored Oswald and her Michigan Ross colleague Cindy Schipani with its Distinguished Career Achievement Award.

Originally posted on the Michigan Ross website on August 11, 2022.

Inside WFU: Matthew Phillips named Charles M. Hewitt Master Teacher

8/28/2015

Wake Forest University School of Business faculty member Matthew Phillips has been named the Charles M. Hewitt Master Teacher by the Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB), the international organization of professors who teach law in business schools.

Phillips, a professor of practice in business law and ethics, teaches across the School’s undergraduate and graduate programs. He is also associate dean of the working professional MBA programs and Bern Beatty Fellow.

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One of the most important aspects of the Hewitt Master Teacher competition is the way it raises the profile of the people who teach business law across our guild. This is a small sample of the stories about recent winners, which highlight their achievement, but also the great work done by business law professors around the country.

Competition News