Mitchell Hamline’s Dispute Resolution Institute is now offering a free resource for educators aimed at advancing the teaching of dispute-resolution and related skills. DRI Director Sharon Press announced on Feb. 6 the launch of the Laboratory for Advancing Dispute Resolution Skills Teaching–or DRI Skills Lab for short.
“The Skills Lab’s mission is to enhance the teaching of dispute resolution and related skills through continued collaboration, resource development and sharing, and pedagogical research,” said Press. “Part of the impetus for developing the DRI Skills Lab is to better prepare students for the NextGen Bar exam, which will have a greater focus on skills.”
Specifically, the Skills Lab’s work will include:
- Maintaining a searchable database of teaching resources produced by dispute resolution educators featuring simulations, exercises, videos, and more
- Developing and collecting NextGen bar-exam teaching materials to enhance skills courses as well as developing skills components for doctrinal courses
- Publishing a DRI Press simulation and course material book series to add to the DRI Press pedagogy collection
- Convening gatherings in various formats to jointly innovate new pedagogy and material for teaching skills
- Conducting and disseminating pedagogical research on the teaching of dispute resolution skills
“This represents a bringing together in one place of several things DRI has been doing for years,” Press said. “I’m thrilled to be able to offer it as a free resource for fellow educators.”
The Association of American Law Schools in January named its Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution the “Section of the Year,” in part because of the section’s work with Mitchell Hamline on the searchable database of the Skills Lab.