The Impact of a Global Pandemic on the Uneasy Relation between PBL and Lectures in a Law CurriculumSjoerd Claessens
Traditional lecturing has traditionally been one of the most prevalent methods of instructions in law curricula. This tradition dates back a millennium. The method has also permeated into learning philosophies that stand at odds with this instruction method, such as Problem-Based Learning. In the article it is investigated why lecturing is used so widely, whether there are additional reasons to do so in the legal discipline and whether recent developments – most notably the Sars-COV-2 pandemic – would or should lead to a departure from this instruction method. It is concluded that lectures will probably prevail and that there is a place for this instruction method in Problem-Based Learning even more so in a legal curriculum.
Daniela Schröder
This article addresses the (self-identified) challenges facing first-year law students in Germany. In particular, this article reports findings of research conducted as part of the third-party funded project Selbstorganisation und Lernstrategien [Self-Organisation and Learning Strategies] at the University of Hamburg. In an extracurricular peer-tutoring format, beginners in legal studies were introduced to different learning techniques in conjunction with legal methodology. Based on previous research, students were encouraged to become strategic deep learners by presenting them with a standardised course curriculum consisting of ten thematically defined sessions. All classes were evaluated via a written questionnaire, the results of which are presented here. These empirical findings allow us to determine the difficulties legal beginners are confronted with and to derive sensible didactic improvements for law students, especially those in the early semesters of their studies. In particular, we advance the view that more use should be made of student-led tutorials in legal education and plead for encouraging students to become strategic deep learners. This is especially important in regards to the growing influence of international law in legal curricula. In addition, this article argues that the content of the various law courses should be better interlinked institutionally.
Alexander Gilder; Michelle Bentley; Nasir M. Ali; Nicola Antoniou; Daniela Lai
In light of COVID-19, activities under the remit of the Legal Advice Centre at Royal Holloway, University of London needed to adapt. Technology and the normalisation of online collaboration presented an opportunity for international cooperation between students at universities around the globe. To capitalise on the changing dynamics, Royal Holloway established a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies in Somaliland with the aim of pursuing student-led projects, as well as other research related collaboration. In this article we recount the formulation of a student-led, inclusive, international project that saw students in the UK and Somaliland work together on a website (www.knowaboutpeace.com) that freely disseminates information on human rights and peacebuilding for stakeholders in Somaliland and the Horn of Africa, with additional relevance for UK actors working in Somaliland. The project utilised approaches of peer learning, student ownership, enquiry-based learning, international collaboration, and social responsibility to build an activity and environment that promoted deeper learning, critical thinking, and social change.
Victoria Ball; Arwen Joyce
This paper draws on empirical data exploring undergraduate law students’ experiences of small group teaching in a UK law school. The results and analysis are presented in the form of a best practice guide for early career academics in law. Advice gleaned from the academic literature on effective small group teaching is combined with focus group data to create a guide grounded in the student voice with a focus on recommended approaches for overcoming common challenges. The paper begins by exploring the pedagogical purpose and benefits of small group teaching sessions and the challenges early career academics may encounter due to a growing ‘student-as-consumer’ mindset. The paper goes on to provide advice related to three stages of teaching: preparing to teach, in the classroom, and outside the classroom, including helping students prepare for exams. The guide aims to provide the kind of friendly advice and support that an early career academic might receive from a supportive peer network.
Rachael O’Connor
Inclusion of student voices in higher education (HE) policy is of increasing importance. However, inclusion of marginalised or under-represented voices is a continuing practical challenge. International students are one example of voices more often unheard, despite the last decade’s internationalisation drive. Reverse mentoring use within business facilitates conversations between senior and junior colleagues, promoting cultural development. To date, its use in HE is comparatively limited. This work seeks to fill that gap through a small-scale study at a Russell Group law school between international undergraduate students (mentors) and staff (mentees) during 2019/20. The reverse mentoring focused on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) issues. This piece focuses on the impact of reverse mentoring on student mentors and views of their School community. The study’s design was informed by reverse mentoring in the legal profession, staff and student focus groups and international student and reverse mentoring literature. Mentor and mentee reflections were captured via interviews and reflective logs. Findings suggest reverse mentoring is an effective tool in HE to facilitate positive staff/student relationships and to hear authentic student voices. It has potential for transformational mentor impact which can catalyse wider community development, particularly in hierarchical disciplines like law. This work argues that reverse mentoring deserves a prominent place in ‘post-pandemic’ University strategies, with some cautionary notes and ideas for future development.
Siobhan McConnell
Commercial awareness is identified by employers as an important and desirable graduate skill. The recruitment literature employed by many law firms in England and Wales indicates commercial awareness is required by law students to gain access to the legal profession. However, commercial awareness is a skill that many law students struggle to conceptualise and to demonstrate during the graduate recruitment process. This article presents the results of the first systematic review of the available literature on commercial awareness. The systematic review was driven by the growing importance of commercial awareness to law students, employers and universities. Although this article focuses on the position of law students based in England and Wales, it is anticipated that its findings will resonate with legal educators across Europe and beyond. This article considers the following key questions: What is commercial awareness? How important is it and why? How do students develop commercial awareness and can it be taught during their legal education? How can students demonstrate commercial awareness during the graduate recruitment process? This article highlights the key themes the review results presented, providing a suggested definition of commercial awareness and considering its growing importance to employers, students and law schools and the issues this creates. This article makes recommendations for legal educators as to how to support the development of commercial awareness in law school curricula and makes suggestions for further research.