Mind the Gap: Using UK Parliamentary Sources to Enhance Teaching

Online primary parliamentary sources can be of great value in teaching Parliament-related courses and a valuable means of promoting the development of students' research and analytical skills; particularly taking into account the research habits of the modern student population. Through a series of focus groups with politics students and a national survey of politics lecturers, the perceptions and current use of the UK Parliament website in teaching are analysed. It was found that a considerable number of lecturers are making use of the website for teaching purposes, though this is usually at a very basic and often superficial level. Barriers to the use of parliamentary resources include a lack of awareness of the types and variety of parliamentary material, difficulties in finding appropriate material on the Parliament website and a lack of understanding on the part of lecturers as to how to use this material effectively in lectures and seminars.     

Syllabus,examinations and the teaching of law

In Australia, applicants for admission to the legal profession must hold appropriate academic qualifications, and competently complete practical legal training (PLT). The author’s research investigates institutional PLT practitioners’ engagement with scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). The theoretical framework for the research draws on Bourdieu and Passeron’s reflexive sociology of education and culture. This article focuses on responses to a paramount obligation proposition put to 34 PLT practitioners during semi-structured interviews: “Might lawyers’ paramount obligations to the court intersect with PLT practitioners’ teaching and assessment practices?” The proposition elicited responses and insights about field forces within the individual and organisational dimensions of teaching and learning in PLT. These include top-down/bottom-up pressures that impinge on PLT practitioners’ engagement with SoTL.     

Embracing Wikipedia as a research tool for law: to Wikipedia or not to Wikipedia?

Useful aspects of Wikipedia should be embraced as a research tool. Arguments are based upon a consideration of Wikipedia's purpose; policies and controlling mechanisms; commentator views on and academic use of Wikipedia as a teaching and learning tool; the fact that empirical research has found students will use Wikipedia. The results of a survey on the research preferences of a range of students engaged in various levels of legal study, from senior secondary school to second year law students, are presented and recommendations regarding educating students in the appropriate use of Wikipedia for research are made.     

Rite of passage: The impact of teaching methods on first year law students

Abstract

SEVERAL RECENT articles suggest that the undergraduate law program harms students in many ways. What we do not know, however, is the cause of these harms. More specifically, we do not know the way in which law students are impacted by current teaching and methods. This is the first empirical research that looks at this specific question.

In 2005 I conducted doctoral research on recent law graduates about both their understanding of undergraduate law school teaching practices and more importantly, the impact of these practices on them personally. The result of the research confirms recent literature and provides new and important information about the extent to which teaching methods harm students.

Specifically, the research suggests that the two main teaching methods used in first year law school, the case method and the lecture method, are not entirely effective or efficient for student learning; the law school curriculum is based on an epistemology of objectivism that makes learning law difficult and the first year law school examinations impact students in several negative ways. This research suggests that the combination of first year teaching practices causes many students to feel isolated, disoriented, disengaged, and ultimately resigned to having no control. This article is a summary of my doctoral research.     

中国30年来的宪法学教学与研究

上世纪70年代以来的中国宪法学教学和研究,从根本上说是围绕着反映经济社会发展要求的82宪法的形成、解说、实施和修改进行的,当然也在很大程度上受到后者发展状况的局限.中国的宪法学教学和研究得到了快速发展,但总体水平还比较低,其主要原因在于中国的政治体制改革相对滞后,宪政实践还不能提供必要而足够的研究资源,宪法学教学和研究缺乏现实的推动力.近年来,中国宪法学教学和研究出现了一些新的发展趋势.这些新的发展趋势适应了现阶段中国经济社会发展的要求,引领着中国宪法学教学和研究的新方向.     

From Baghdad to Sunderland: Weblogs and reflective learning,or how i Learned to stop worrying and love the Blog

The question of whether open-book examinations (OBE) are preferable to closed book examinations (CBE) is not a new one. However, little has been written on the question of the use of OBE in the discipline of law or as a means of promoting more effective teaching and learning. This article will examine the arguments for and against the utilisation of OBE as opposed to CBE for students of law at university level. Utilising secondary data, as well as a primary small-scale empirical study the author explores student views of OBE and CBE and their significance for teaching and learning in law. It is suggested that the issue may not be simply a question of choice of assessment methods and their value but rather involves examining and evaluating approaches to teaching, learning and curriculum design. In conclusion it is argued that there are several factors which need to be taken into account when deciding what form of assessment is the most appropriate for these students but that the key requirement is that the course design and teaching, learning and assessment methods are aligned and considered as a whole, matching learning outcomes to teaching and learning activities and to the form of assessment chosen. Only within this context can OBE promote more effective learning.     

科学研究在大学中的历史演进

科学研究在大学中的发展依据其与教学的关系大致可以分为三个不同的阶段.一般认为,科学研究正式进入大学是在19世纪初期,洪堡提出通过研究进行教学的思想,研究与教学相结合成为大学的基本原则,研究作为大学培养学生的主要方法.19世纪后期美国大学中研究生教育制度的确立,使研究与教学相结合被提升到研究生教育层次,明确了研究与教学相结合在大学实践中的局限性或条件性.20世纪中期,科学发展进入"大科学"时代之后,大学的研究被纳入"大科学"体系,一些研究的目的遂发生变化,开始脱离教学.即在现代大学中虽然以培养人才为基本出发点、与教学紧密结合、自由探究、小规模甚或个别式、传统的科学与学术研究仍存在,但同时出现了为了教育之外的某个目的、与教学没有什么关系、有明确的组织目标、大规模的科学研究.     

论公安高校的科研工作

在公安高校中开展科研工作既有利于促进教学和人才培养质量的提高,又是学科建设之源,应从加强领导、理顺关系、 整合力量、强化管理等方面着手,实现科研学术水平的不断提升。     

对重构大学教师考评机制的思考

目前,我国大学的教育质量不尽人意,面临着失去灵魂却不卓越的尴尬局面。之所以如此,偏颇的大学教师考评机制是其中重要的原因。现有的大学教师考评机制过于强调科研成果,而忽视了教学业绩,结果导致大学教师不认真对待教学工作,不关心学生发展和成长的局面出现。只有重构大学教师考评机制,将教学作为考评大学和教师的主要依据,才能有望彻底改变这一局面。     

试析刑法学教学面临的困境和出路

国家统一司法考试与我国加入WTO对中国法学教育提出了新的要求。结合我院刑法学教学的实际,刑法学教师必须准确、客观、系统地讲授刑法知识,运用相关的教学方法,建立教学行为规范,充分调动学生课堂思维的积极性,作到师生同步思维,提高教育效果,从而提高我院刑法教学的质量。     

Teaching scientific integrity and research ethics

Cases of misconduct in scientific research have enforced a lively public and scientific discussion. The international scientific community has been engaged during the last years in the search for adequate responses to fraud and misconduct. Most of the new guidelines emphasize the responsibility of researchers and scientific institutions for preventive measures; the teaching of research ethics should be included in undergraduate and postgraduate academic education. At the Universities of Ulm and Marburg members of the 'Study group Ethics in Medicine' are developing a teaching program in Research Ethics. They now offer courses: teaching in small groups (7-15 participants) with structured case discussions. These courses are not mandatory. The first steps in the development of the teaching program for young scientists in medicine, biology, chemistry, and physics have been taken. The fields of conflicts in these different fields of science are very similar. We offered five case discussion sessions with mixed groups (postgraduate students, postdocs, head of departments) and the first results are very positive: high acceptance, high motivation, high demand for next courses.     

Lost in translation? Teaching law to non‐lawyers: Reviewing the evidence from social work

Abstract

This paper considers pedagogical questions surrounding the teaching of law to non‐lawyers. It draws on research into the teaching, learning and assessment of law in social work education. The research comprised a systematic review of international literature, a practice survey, focus groups with students and practice teachers, and two stakeholder conferences. The evidence suggests that law teaching in social work education is of particular interest in highlighting key dimensions of education practice that affect students’ learning. The paper provides some signposts towards research‐informed organisation of teaching, learning and assessment, and highlights important areas for further study.     

Research-informed teaching: a clinical approach

In a bid to attract students amidst increasing competition within the sector, many universities claim that their teaching is “research-informed”. However, there is some disagreement amongst academics about what actually counts as research-informed teaching and therefore how it should be developed and delivered. Furthermore, whilst academic reputation is a key factor for prospective university applicants, the primary objective of the majority is to enhance employability. Institutions must therefore be careful to ensure that research-informed teaching is developed in a way that is perceived to help rather than hinder this fundamental objective. This article seeks to define research-informed teaching and then considers whether clinical approaches to both teaching and research can offer more widely applicable strategies for effective integration of the two. Two case studies are considered: first, the writer’s own experience as a solicitor in private practice; and secondly, Hallam Law, Sheffield Hallam University’s pro bono law clinic. It is submitted that by adopting a clinical approach to the research and teaching on more orthodox, academic modules, it may be possible to develop and deliver research-informed teaching in a way that enhances employability and therefore appeals to prospective law students.     

Career Planning for SolicitorsWorking in Law 2014

This paper examines a teaching method in property law. It is a method that applies the use of tutorials to complement the traditional delivery of lectures. The tutorials are run using group teaching techniques, allowing the students to be engaged in active learning. Independent, individual and group research work is involved throughout the process. The paper explores the benefits and problems associated with the operation of this teaching method. Further, it examines the alignment of the problem-based learning strategy to the global vision of universities to push the boundaries of learning through teaching and research, enterprise and professional practice. The paper explains how using tutorials in this teaching method fits with the dimensions of the United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for teaching and supporting learning, and the underpinning objectives of the named university’s learning strategy.     

Open and distance learning in a New Europe*

Legal education is gradually moving away from the teaching of national law towards a more European, transnational, or even “global” way of teaching. This paper seeks to explain why an international legal education is to be preferred to a national curriculum and what this means for how law is taught and how law schools are ideally organised. The arguments for an international legal education lie in the increasing plurality of legal sources, the desire to attract students from a larger pool, and the need not only to give students a specialised professional training but also to prepare them for global citizenship. It is claimed students should be exposed to alternative ways of achieving justice, thus creating a dialogue with otherness. This can be done by a focus on the arguments behind the choices made by the relevant authorities and not on the doctrinal intricacies of national legal systems. This type of international curriculum, in which competing conceptions of justice are at the centre of attention, requires a specific teaching method. Two methods seem best suited to allow students to construct their own understanding of legal problems: problem-based learning (PBL) and the Socratic method. In addition, teaching law in an international setting forces us to think through the sequence in which the various jurisdictions come to the fore, the assessment of students and the use of teaching materials and language of instruction. Also discussed are the challenges for the law school as a whole, such as the relationship between teaching and research, the recruitment of faculty and the decreasing relevance of the traditional departmental structure.     

Individual and contextual influences on delinquency: the role of the single-parent family

Research indicates that children are at risk for delinquency if they live in a single-parent family and if they live in areas with high levels of family disruption. Although there is a substantial amount of research on both the individual and aggregate relationships, examining delinquency at either of these two levels alone is not appropriate. Specifically, families do not exist in isolation as individual-level research inherently assumes, and aggregate research is concerned with explaining rates of delinquency as opposed to explaining influences on individual behavior. The current research used data from thirty-five schools, an important adolescent context, to determine the individual- and school-level effects of single-parent families on delinquency. The results from an overdispersed Poisson HLM regression model suggest both individual and aggregate effects, with a potential buffering effect of intact families regardless of any adolescents' specific family structure.     

Reactions to Dating Violence Research: Do Difficulties with Distress Tolerance Increase Negative Reactions?

Recent research has begun to examine whether participants in dating violence studies perceive any benefit from the research and/or experience emotional distress as a result of having participated. Such information is important for Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and researchers in determining ethical and appropriate protections for participants. In the current study, we examined participants’ reactions to answering questions on dating violence victimization and perpetration utilizing a sample of female college students (N?=?282). We also examined whether distress tolerance was associated with research reactions and moderated the relation between reports of victimization/perpetration and negative emotional reactions to the research. Findings demonstrated that negative emotional reactions to the research did not differ between individuals with or without previous dating violence. Further, distress tolerance had a main effect, but not a moderating effect, on negative emotional reactions to research participation. Implications of these findings for future research and IRBs are discussed.     

Tissue donation: ethical guidance and legal enforceability

The legal and ethical framework regulating the use of tissue donated for medical research in Australia provides clear direction on the appropriate use of donated tissue in many instances. However, this article argues that the current framework may be inadequate to address some of the problems that may arise from misuse of such tissue. It argues that the Human Tissue Acts do not provide a sufficiently broad system of regulation and require updating. It also notes that as much of Australian research practice is regulated through ethics guidelines, which do not have the status of law, in some cases this approach may fail to provide remedies for those whose tissue is used inappropriately.     

珍惜中国传统法——中国法律史教学和研究的反思

在目前的法学教育和研究中,法律史的状况有些令人担忧。在教学中,有些课程,如中国法制史的课时越来越缩减;而有些课程,如中国法律思想史则为“选修”。这种学科的分野和讲授时间的匆忙,不仅很难将具有五千年传承的中国传统法较为客观地展现给学生,而且误导研究,造成了人们对传统法的片面理解,进而造成社会对传统法文化的自信阙失。本文从中国法律思想史学科的发展、学科研究方法的反思和学科所具有的意义论证珍惜传统法的重要。因为珍惜是复兴的前提,一个国家和民族的法律发展无法离开传统的平台,所以传统法的改造成功之日,就是具有中国特色的法治形成发展之时。     

A threat or a promise: acquisition of teaching hospitals by investor-owned chains

In the early 1980s, acquisition of a small number of teaching hospitals by investor-owned chains raised the spectre of a for-profit takeover of teaching institutions. Drawing on experience to date, as well as interviews with affected parties, this article assesses the likely scope of such acquisitions and their impact on the education, research, and indigent care that teaching hospitals provide. Our assessment concludes that relatively few teaching hospitals are likely to satisfy the financial criteria chains apply to acquisitions; that hospitals with modest rather than extensive commitments to education and research are most likely to satisfy these criteria; and that terms of sale typically enhance, rather than undermine, these institutions' resources for research, education, and, to a lesser extent, indigent care, at least in the short run. In the long run, continuation of these activities is more likely to be a function of third-party payment policies than of proprietary versus nonprofit hospital ownership.