An Advocacy Exercise for a Psychology and Law Course

Abstract

This article describes an active learning component of an advanced course in psychology and law. The assignment is to present, in the context of a mock appellate court, the best available psychological data in support of one party in a legal case. Students choose one side of a hypothetical case, locate and review the relevant scientific literature, prepare written analyses and arguments, and present those analyses to a panel of student-justices who question them about the nature of their evidence and the validity of their conclusions. Postcourse assessments showed that the exercise enhanced students' conceptual knowledge of psychology and law as well as their ability to organize and synthesize empirical data, form an argument on the basis of data, and present that argument to the public.