Pitt Law Professors Ann Sinsheimer and Leigh Coogan Receive Provost’s Personalized Education Grant

Pitt Law Professors Ann Sinsheimer and Leigh Coogan have been awarded a Provost’s Personalized Education Grant for their proposal, “Persistence, Performance, and Law School: Implementing Interventions to Encourage Growth Mindset, Maximize Education and Ensure Practice."
Professor Ann Sinsheimer is an experienced legal writer and educator. Sinsheimer has been a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law since the mid 90’s and teaches legal writing and co-teaches a program for international lawyers at the University, and has had the opportunity to lecture overseas in places such as Ethiopia, Serbia, Belgium, and Iceland. The Pitt Law School alum earned her Juris Doctorate from the university in ’96. 
Visiting Pitt Law Professor Leigh Argentieri Coogan returned to the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in the summer of 2017 to teach Legal Analysis and Writing to first-year law students. Prior to becoming visiting faculty at Pitt, Coogan was an Associate at K&L Gates in downtown Pittsburgh. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in ’14 and received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University. 
About the Provost’s Personalized Education Grant
The Plan for Pitt states that “we aspire to be a university that prepares students to lead lives of impact through a supportive environment focused on a holistic and individualized approach to learning inside and outside the classroom.” To achieve this goal, the Plan for Pitt articulates a strategy of “Serving as a leader in personalizing educational experiences of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, with particular attention to mentorship, advising, and tailoring engagement to the goals of individual students.” The Provost’s Office is invited several proposals for projects to enhance personalized education for Pitt students. Personalized education is defined as enhanced learning through tailored engagement in educational activities that reflect each student's unique identities, experiences, interests, abilities, and aspirations. Personalized education is a key element of the Plan for Pitt. Developing more student-centered approaches to education is critical to enhancing Pitt’s competitiveness in recruiting and supporting a diverse population of talented students. Pitt faculty and staff have deep expertise and long experience in education, learning science, advising, and mentoring. Pitt students also have ideas about how best to personalize the Pitt experience. Consequently, in addition to projects initiated in the Provost’s office and in the schools, we encourage Pitt faculty, staff and students to participate in many aspects of this initiative.