Common Law Section

By viewing examples of how we blend the online interactive exercises with the classroom instruction for law students and medical professionals, you (as a legal or medical educator, educational developer or instructor who teaches dispute/conflict resolution and resolving conflict productively) can then try the online modules yourself so that you will be able to determine how they could be integrated into your own program.

Classroom instruction using simulations and role plays is combined with interactive, online learning activities. The web-based materials present theory which is then immediately applied to practical problems. Formative feedback is provided along with further reflection exercises.

The online materials can be used immediately before or after the face-to-face instruction as an introduction, as a review, as reinforcement of the learning or as continued practice of targeted skills long after the classroom instruction has been completed.

Click on any of the 4 examples above for a closer look at how we blend the online materials with the face-to-face instruction.

Why We Used Blended Learning and Why You Might Want To Use It

Dispute Resolution and Professional Responsibility is a required first-year law course introducing non-litigation dispute processes and the skills needed to advocate client interests in negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Ethical and professional responsibility dilemmas are woven throughout. (Learn more about this program)

The University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine gave conflict resolution workshops to students, residents and physicians. (Learn more about this program) Conflict Resolution was also incorporated into the Ottawa Academic Health Science Leadership Program. It was difficult for time-pressured medical professionals to attend lengthy, face-to-face training sessions so the workshops were limited to two-day sessions. Since communication and collaborative problem-solving skills mature over years of practice and mastery cannot be achieved in a two-day workshop, additional application and reinforcement were required.

A blended-learning approach was introduced to take advantage of the flexibility and unlimited access online learning has to offer while at the same time maintaining the highly experiential classroom activities most commonly used to teach interviewing, negotiation, mediation, and professionalism.

• Free access to the modules https://maestro.uottawa.ca/indexEN.asp
  
  User ID: resolution
  Password: resolution
  
  Difficulty logging in? Please send a request for assistance via the support form and select Blackboard/Virtual Campus from the Subject drop-down menu.
  
  
• The Shakespearean Aside video — Transcript (.docx, 19 kb)
  
  
• The Lost Contract and the Burst Pipe video — Transcript (.docx, 26 kb)
  
  
• Accompanying handout for The Lost Contract and the Burst Pipe videos (.pdf, 8 mb)
  
  
• The Initial Interview: Alex Bradley in Bradley v Dutton video — Transcript (.docx, 57 ko)
  
  
• Research Articles:
  • Zweibel, E.B., Goldstein, R., Manwaring, J.A., & Marks, M.B. (2008). What sticks: How medical residents and academic health care faculty transfer conflict resolution training from the workshop to the workplace. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 25(3), 321-350.
    
    
  • Zweibel, E.B., & Goldstein, R. (2001). Conflict resolution at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine: The Pelican and the sign of the triangle. Academic Medicine, 76(4), 337-344.

User Agreement:

The University of Ottawa Faculties of Law and Medicine’s online dispute/conflict resolution modules are available free of charge with attribution¹ for instructional purposes only. They can be used by educational, non-profit organizations as stand-alone online resources or in conjunction with face-to-face teaching.

¹Zweibel, E. & Manwaring, J. (2003). Dispute Resolution Skills for Lawyers. Retrieved [year, month, date] from http://www.commonlaw.uottawa.ca/en/programs/dispute-resolution-and-professionalism/integrating-our-free-online-materials-into-your-conflict-resolution-program.html

Zweibel, E., Goldstein, R., Manwaring, J. (2005). Conflict Resolution. Retrieved [year, month, date] from http://www.commonlaw.uottawa.ca/en/programs/dispute-resolution-and-professionalism/integrating-our-free-online-materials-into-your-conflict-resolution-program.html