Quick, how would you teach a GenEd course on American law to a class of 400 students with little or no previous law instruction?

It's the kind of question that would keep many instructors awake at night — but not Samuel D. Hodge Jr., professor and chair of the Department of Legal Studies at Temple's Fox School of Business and winner of the 2010 Provost's Award for Innovative Teaching in General Education.

"Give them a dysfunctional Philadelphia family," Hodge said. "Throw in animated cartoons of Ben Franklin and Abraham Lincoln and video and audio clips from the civil rights movement, presidential speeches and Hollywood movies. Then add to the mix a classroom visit from the cast of a Tony Award-winning play."

By now, no one at Temple should be surprised by Hodge's creative solutions to teaching's biggest challenges. In his 35 years as a faculty member — 25 as Legal Studies chair — Hodge has established himself as one of the most innovative, prolific and highly decorated instructors in the university's history. He has taught more than 20,000 students, with one class of at least 400 students on his docket every semester since 1988. He directs Fox's Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. He has won more than a dozen teaching awards — including the Great Teacher Award, the university’s highest, in 1990. His methods have brought coverage in the New York Times ("Off-the-wall style of teaching gets their attention," March 4, 1990). And thanks to his many animated presentations, he's probably the only Temple scholar whose face is most recognizable in cartoon form.

"Great teaching in GenEd begins with student engagement," said Terry Halbert, director of Temple's GenEd program. "Amazingly, at 8 a.m. and with hundreds of students in the room, Sam Hodge brings the law alive, engaging students in this most challenging of settings."

The centerpiece of Hodge's "Law in American Society" class is the Roberts family, an imaginary Philadelphia clan whose epic misadventures — from getting a car run over by a bulldozer to being arrested for driving under the influence while skateboarding — help Hodge illustrate basic legal principles. Family members are played by local actors who interact directly with students in the classroom or by phone, asking questions and seeking their legal advice while staying in character.

In the fall semester, Hodge added another dramatic touch. During a unit on same-sex marriage, Hodge brought in the cast of "Angels in America" to perform a pivotal scene while the cast was rehearsing for the play's run in Philadelphia. The play's director answered students' questions after the performance.

Yet for all of his creative flourishes, Hodge is doggedly focused on his course's bottom line: learning.

"Today's students also want to be entertained," he said. "But there's a purpose. I don't just do it to be funny. I do it so they'll retain it. I hope that by making the law come alive in an entertaining way, students will never forget what I've taught them."