(Taking Case Studies out of the Classroom and into the Street) 

                  Professor Binder's expertise is in civil litigation matters, with a specialty in
                  domain name disputes and risk management issues
 

I.  Reality Education Defined (Projects linked below)

Achieving a higher level of learning by challenging student teams to confront a moral dilemma on both sides of an issue, analyze it, and resolve it not in an academic setting, but in the real world – by engaging actual corporate players in the debate.

II.  The Evolution of Learning Principles and Theories

Stone Age                    Passive Lectures

Dark Ages                    The Socratic Method – Probing Q & A

Middle Ages                Group Case Studies/Simulations (Teacher as Classroom Facilitator)

Renaissance                 Group Reality Education
                                   (Teacher as Classroom Facilitator and Bridge to the Real World)

 
III. Applied learning skills for Reality Education projects:

1- requires Critical Thinking skills

o       Stretching student imagination on how to deal with moral issues

o       Reasoning with the fluid concept of Negotiation

o       Interpreting the meaning of difficult contract clauses

o       Applying the concept of leverage to a problem

o       Challenging students to evaluate business decisions from two perspectives – that of a consumer and that of big business

2- facilitates team building skills by working in groups

3- incorporates a real world business/consumer problem and application

4- utilizes the internet

5- provides incentive

o       the best class paper is sent to the corporate players involved in the issue or debate, with a cover letter from the instructor

6- reinforces learning, by having students apply these lessons in their own lives

7- encourages post-semester follow up to see an executive's response to the project

IV.  Reality Education Model for other Courses and Programs

My projects have been used in undergraduate, graduate, traditional, and online courses.  To utilize this Model, the professor must envision a high profile, real world problem, and decide where the project should be sent for real world application.  Programs which might benefit from this Model include subjects dealing with ethics:  All College of Business courses, Arts & Sciences programs, including Communication, Psychology, and Political Science; Education programs; Hospitality programs; Policy Studies programs

The Morality of Employee-at-Will Non-Compete Agreements (2005)

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Reality Education Projects from Prior Semesters

Sample Student Comments on Reality Education Projects

Research Resources:  Binder Clips on Civil Litigation

Professor Binder's Home