It’s a puzzle Melanie Adrian’s students at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University are mulling over in small groups shortly after 5 p.m. on an already dark, mid-fall afternoon. It could be classic snooze-button time for any student grinding through the final hour of a three-hour lecture at the back end of term. Not here. The room is full of chatter. Nobody looks quite sure what they’re doing, yet there are smiles, laughter, debates, and pencils scribbling on handouts featuring two differently sized circles, several arrows and stick-people – suggestions only, to prime students’ creative and intellectual pumps.

Dr. Adrian, a law and legal studies professor, moves from one group to another, leaning over to size up what each has so far. She isn’t totally sure this exercise is going to work either. And she’s running out of time for today.

“I’ve seen some fabulous diagrams,” she says, advising students to bring their drawings to a subsequent class so they can carry on the discussion. “Please think about it over the next two weeks. There’s no right or wrong here. We’re contrasting them. They’re experiments.”

Experimenting and taking risks are natural territory for Dr. Adrian.

University Affairs recently featured Dr. Adrian and her innovative teaching practices. .