11Id.
12Joan Catherine Bohl, Generations X and Y in Law School: Practical Strategies for Teaching the ‘‘MTV/GOOGLE’’ Generation, 54 LOY. L. REV. 775 (2008) (stating that individuals born between 1977 and 2003 are members of Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation or simply ‘‘Millennials’’).
13Susan P. Eisner, Managing Generation Y, 70(4) SAM ADVANCED MGMT. J. 4 (Autumn 2005).
14See supra note 10.
15See Charles Bonwell & James Eison, Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom, ERIC DIGEST (Sept. 1991).
84 Vol. 27 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education
for Business Accreditation,16 business law is considered a traditional business subject and part of the required business school education. As such, the
AACSB International expects individual faculty members teaching busi-
ness law courses will actively involve students in the learning process.17
Our first charge is to engage the students so they participate in the learning
process in our business law classrooms. Our second charge is to incorporate
concepts of sustainability into the classroom. AACSB International has re-
cently incorporated sustainability into the business school educational envi-
ronment.18 AACSB International believes that schools of business should
develop a new generation of ethical leaders that can support a sustainable
society. The use of one business case study throughout the entire semester
can assist the professor in reaching these AACSB goals for the classroom.
Cases are used in most business schools as a teaching tool. Business
cases discuss actual issues that were faced by a business and are utilized for
the purpose of determining ‘‘what works and what does not work.’’19 To
that end, the single business case study method is one tool to bring to the
college classroom in order to engage the students and assist them with
active learning. The use of one business for the entire semester as a single
case study in the Legal Environment of Business classroom involves active
learning by the students and promotes continuity and a ‘‘big picture’’ view
of law and its impact on business.
Preparing for a semester-long case study is not an easy task. It involves
much more than creating a syllabus by the instructor. It requires the writing
of group assignments, researching cases and statutes, and planning, as many
of the resources need to be collected well in advance of their actual use in
class. This method of actively engaging the students also causes some addi-
tional grading work of these group activities throughout the semester.
Various cases can be assigned to the students to read and brief in
addition to the assigned textbook. The cases must be edited, assembled,
16AACSB, Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation Standards for Business Accreditation, adopted Apr. 25, 2003 (last revised Jan. 31, 2008).
17Id.
18See AACSB International’s First Annual Sustainability Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah from July 30–31, 2008; second conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 29–31, 2009; and the third upcoming Conference to be held in Denver, Colorado on June 14–15, 2010.
19Rob Atkins, Growing Greener Grass: Looking from Legal Ethics to Business Ethics, and Back, 1 U. ST. THOMAS L.J. 951, 955 (2004).
2010 / It’s Not Easy Being Green 85
and copied into a file and made available to the students electronically. The
cases can then be used as precedent to analyze TerraCycle’s real and fic-
titious legal predicaments presented to the students in the various group
exercises. This business can be used when assessing the knowledge and
analytical skills of the students in specific content areas in essay questions
on examinations. Throughout the semester, additional assigned reading
from journals and newspapers can provide the students with a greater
understanding from various perspectives about this business.20 The stu-
dents can research a wide variety of primary and secondary source mate-
rials on the Internet and examine the impact of legal events from
numerous perspectives. One of the founders of TerraCycle has recently
written a book explaining his journey from the dorm room to the board-
room of TerraCycle.21 Students can explore legal documents, read news
articles, make product comparisons, and even watch a clip from
