Unlocking Learning Through Real-World Connections

Originally published March 20, 2026

In Conversation with Jeff Boich: Bringing Real-World Learning into the Legal Studies Classroom

A practicing lawyer and dedicated educator, Jeff Boich from Laurier’s Political Science department and recipient of the 2025 part-time Sustained Excellence in Teaching award, discusses how he brings the realities of legal practice into the classroom. Rather than relying primarily on textbooks, he teaches through real cases, current headlines, and experiential learning activities that help students see how legal principles operate in the real world. Jeff designs assessments that develop the skills required in the legal profession and has coached Laurier’s Moot court team to repeated championships, providing mentorship as students take increasing ownership of their learning. Watch the conversation on YouTube >>

Prefer podcasts? Listen to this episode on our podcast, available online or wherever you get your podcasts!

Turning Knowing into Doing

We often introduce students to grasp an idea they have never encountered before, which is a bit like trying to describe an axolotl to someone who has never seen one (are you googling axolotl right now?😉). We can discuss features and explain adaptive behaviours, but it can be challenging to place them more meaningfully in a biological system until we explore and analyze them as scientists would in real world contexts. The issue is not a lack of vocabulary. It is a lack of opportunity to connect relevant and professional learning experiences to the species under study.

Students encounter many course concepts in the same way. They hear definitions and explanations, but without opportunities to observe, test, manipulate, or apply those ideas; the knowledge often remains abstract. Experiential learning addresses this gap in learning by connecting theory with action and reflection. When learners engage with examples, cases, or lived situations, they begin to see how ideas operate in real contexts (Kolb 2015).

Experiential learning approaches not only offer ways to deepen students’ learning but can also provide opportunities to address contemporary pedagogical challenges. After the disruption of the pandemic and the growing presence of generative AI tools, many instructors have observed increasing disengagement in the learning process in their classrooms. Research from Seemiller and Grace (2016) suggests that these Gen Z learners, who make up large numbers of our university classrooms, are motivated when they see clear relevance and practical value in what they are learning. Generation Z students value learning experiences that prepare them for life after graduation and help them apply course material to real world situations. Find out more on who today’s Laurier students are in our webinar recording discussing characteristics of recent cohorts of Laurier first-year students.

With this context in mind and inspired by Jeff Boich's approaches to experiential learning, consider the potential of the following strategies for your course below:

Integrating Real World Cases

Use case studies that resemble the kinds of problems professionals in your discipline face in the field. Authentic cases help students understand how disciplinary knowledge operates outside the classroom (Archer et al. 2020). For example, a psychology class could analyze a workplace conflict, or a statistics class could interpret data from a public health report.

In his conversation series video above, Jeff Boich models this in his legal writing course where he teaches legal concepts through realistic case scenarios that mirror the situations lawyers face in practice. Each week students analyze a case as if a senior lawyer has asked a junior lawyer to apply legal principles and propose solutions. Jeff pairs foundational law cases that students will encounter in law school but also uses contemporary examples straight from the headlines to show students the ongoing impact, relevance, and debate around important legal issues.

Simulating and Role Playing

Role playing and simulations (Duchatelet 2019; Humpherys et al. 2022) recreate real professional situations so students can practice applying knowledge and skills in a safe environment. These activities allow learners to experience decision making and problem solving in real-time, as would happen in practice. For example, in a business course, students could simulate a meeting between a client and a consulting team. Each student takes a role as client, analyst, or project manager and works through the stages of analyzing the problem and proposing solutions.

Partnering with Community and Industry

Invite experts from industry or professional fields who can elaborate on course concepts with new perspectives. These experts can deliver interactive sessions and engage students in discussion, allowing learners to connect theoretical ideas with real professional practice and ask questions directly to practitioners (Butler et al. 2025; Pepple et al. 2025).

Looking for more?

To learn more, explore Laurier research on Experiential Learning and the evolving classroom and reach out to Laurier’s Community and Workplace Partnerships (CWP) to explore integrating Experiential Learning opportunities in your course for students to engage in service learning, workplace projects, or internships. Through their intake process, the CWP team can help connect your course outcomes with community and industry partners in order to bring concepts to life with experiential learning.

You can always connect with an educational developer on the TEI team to discuss incorporating real world experiential learning strategies into your course activities and assessments.