This semester I taught a terrific group of students in my Legislation class. We had engaging and thought-provoking discussions about the legislative process and statutory interpretation. Indeed, some of those discussions continue on this Blog with some of my students participating in the on-line discussion about judicial activism.

As part of the class, I required my students to attend a number of the “On the Issues” programs hosted by our Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Law, Mike Gousha (see http://law.marquette.edu/cgi-bin/site.pl?on-the-issues/index for a list of the sessions from this semester along with corresponding podcasts). My reasoning for doing so, as I explained to my students, was to help them connect the material we learned about and discussed in class to real-world examples that impact us in Milwaukee, in Wisconsin, and nationally. And after each “On the Issues,” we had fruitful discussions about what the guest speakers said and how that related to the topics we grappled with in class.

I received positive feedback from my students about this requirement. I acknowledge that students may well tell professors what they want to hear before grades are turned in. So I suppose the proof will be in the pudding — that is, my student evaluations. But, as I mentioned in a previous post, students have emailed me with current events that relate to these “On the Issues” sessions and reflect on what they thought about both in light of the material from class. In this regard, the requirement seems to have worked, at least in part, in achieving the pedagogical goals I had in mind.

The “On the Issues” series can be a valuable tool for us as professors to help ground some of the material we cover in class in the issues facing us at the local, state, or national level. Based on my experience this semester, I will certainly look to continue this practice in my Urban Redevelopment seminar next semester, as well as in other courses in the future.