Interteaching: an alternative format of instruction for law classes

This article describes a new format for legal education trialled at RMIT known as interteaching. Broadly, interteaching involves students in small groups teaching each other the content of a class with the guidance of a preparatory guide distributed before each session, and with the instructor taking a supervisory and facilitative role. The article provides an overview of the empirical and theoretical literature supporting interteaching as a teaching method, largely originating from psychology faculties in the United States. It then describes the strengths of interteaching in the context of legal education, factors to consider when implementing interteaching for a law class, and the authors' experience of implementing interteaching in an Australian law class. In the authors' experience, interteaching has the potential to be an effective alternative to the traditional lecture format for teaching law.