Student-led law reviews: what every UK law school needs?

In the United States (US) student-run law reviews have long offered students the opportunity to develop their skills as editors and members of a publication team and to engage with new legal research. With law ordinarily taught as a three-year postgraduate degree, these reviews are normally staffed by a postgraduate editorial team. Similar efforts in the United Kingdom (UK) have largely been short-lived. Some venerable academic journals, such as the Cambridge Law Journal, started their lives as student-centred projects, but academics soon assumed control of the process because of the variable quality of undergraduate editing. This false start proved difficult to recover from, but a spate of newly founded student law reviews in the last decade suggests that these publications have increasing traction in UK legal education. This article evaluates the challenges and potential benefits of these efforts to translate US practice into UK law schools in light of the experience of creating and maintaining the North East Law Review, a student-led periodical based at Newcastle University which publishes student-generated content based on high-quality coursework submissions. This process potentially enhances the assessment process, with the student editorial team preparing essays for publication and student authors re-engaging with their work in light of feedback. Publishing such essays furthermore allows all students to benchmark their own work against excellent coursework performance.     

Teaching without authority

This article seeks to examine the roles played by authority within the classroom in the legal education context and its potential impact on the models of pedagogical practice. Among the pertinent factors fuelling the changing demographics of the law student body is the perceived attraction of practising law in the United Kingdom which increases the popularity of graduate conversion routes into the profession both by qualified legal practitioners from other jurisdictions and by mature students with experience in other areas. This raises a number of potential difficulties for junior law teachers in so far as this changing student body demographic is capable of challenging the teacher's real or perceived authority in the classroom which was hitherto considered a crucial tool to the educator. This article discusses the effects of the closing gap of knowledge and experience between the teacher and the student body and how the adoption of different models of pedagogy may alleviate certain difficulties that arise, perhaps to the extent of transforming this weakness into strength. In the end, however, whether to use different pedagogical models to compensate for a lack of relative authority in the classroom may hinge upon whether legal training should primarily be academically oriented or more akin to training for the practice of a trade, raising questions regarding the appropriate form and function of legal education.     

Determinants and public policy implications of academic-industry knowledge transfer in life sciences: a review and a conceptual framework

There is a considerable interest of scholars in benefits and challenges arising from involvement of academic researchers and their institutions in knowledge transfer activities with the business sector. The emerging questions have resulted in a number of studies, yielding rich but mixed findings. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review this body of investigative work, with a particular emphasis on life sciences. Based on the systematic analysis and synthesis of 135 articles published between 1980 and 2014, we discuss the most interesting findings for each of the six identified principal academic-industry research topics: involvement predictors and motivators, role of incentives, institutional performance determinants, knowledge transfer institutionalization, relationship with scientific output and impact on open science. Whereas many studies reach consensus regarding the particular personal and contextual predictors of researchers’ knowledge transfer involvement, we also find substantial evidence that depending on empirical setting, variables such as scientific productivity and institutional technology transfer support policies can act both as enablers and inhibitors in the process. We find no straightforward evidence regarding the role of the size, age and structure of technology transfer offices in the knowledge transfer performance of academic institutions. We also show that most studies agree that engagement in knowledge transfer activities does not negatively affect the researchers’ scientific output. Yet, it is less clear to what extent university-industry interactions can be detrimental for the norms of open science. We draw several policy implications for academic settings and emphasize interesting avenues for further research in this field.     

开放监狱科学--谈监狱学研究之进路

我国当前的监狱学研究在繁荣的表象背后潜藏着危机.主体意识匮乏、学术视野狭窄、研究方法单调、学术规范欠缺等问题,是束缚监狱学发展的突出问题,而这些问题的根本症结在于监狱学研究的封闭性.只有推行全方位的开放,包括研究意识的开放、研究主体的开放、研究内容的开放和研究方法的开放等,才能使监狱学走向良性发展之路.     

The Swansea Bureau: A model of diversion from the Youth Justice System

The Swansea Bureau is an innovative initiative designed to divert young people out of the formal processes of the Youth Justice System. The Swansea Bureau extends beyond simple diversion grounded in minimal or non-intervention and into tackling the underlying causes of youth crime through mechanisms that normalise youth offending and promote prosocial behaviour, children's rights, youth participation and the engagement of both parents/carers and the local community. Inter-agency working is pursued in a political, strategic and operational context of viewing young people as ‘children first, offenders second’. This article discusses the development of the Bureau and explores how this child-orientated model is beginning to yield positive results in terms of decreases in first time entrants into the Youth Justice System and reductions in reconviction. The Bureau process has also elicited widespread positive qualitative feedback from key stakeholders regarding its engagement with Welsh national policy, parents/carers and the children's rights agenda.     

Government and education news

Abstract

The issue of feedback to students on assessment has been identified by many law schools as an area of high priority. Feedback to students is a key component of quality assessment, student progression and the academic experience of students. However, provision of high quality feedback is also a workload factor for lecturers.

Kingston University and Nottingham Trent University both have identified assessment feedback as an action area in their respective Learning and Teaching Strategies. The learning and teaching co‐ordinators within the Law Schools of these two universities decided to collaborate on a survey of the feedback techniques and practices used.

This study was undertaken to explore strategies to sustain and strengthen the quality of feedback in the context of larger classes, increased student numbers and pressure on resources. The aim was to establish the range of feedback and practices used and to identify student and staff perceptions of existing assessment feedback practices. Using semi‐structured questionnaires, data was collected and analysed in terms of the extent to which assessment feedback was perceived as effective, the extent to which these findings were consistent with the literature and to make recommendations on how assessment feedback could be enhanced.

Findings showed that students clearly distinguished between different features of assessment feedback and evaluated these differently, that there was little consistency in the perceived experience of assessment feedback, and that feedback given often did not meet students’ expectations. Staff perceived that giving good feedback was important but that students seldom acted on feedback. Staff also reported that giving individual written feedback was their preferred method although this is one of the most time‐consuming methods. The conclusions of the study offered practical ways of improving the quality and effectiveness of assessment feedback by revisiting established assumptions about feedback and raising students’ awareness of the various sources, forms and functions of assessment feedback.

For staff, larger classes, increased student diversity and diminishing resources mean that staff will need to work smarter, with regard to providing effective assessment feedback, if there is to be a consistently better student experience of assessment feedback.     

Detecting Feigned Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Current Methods and Future Directions

Feigned attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults is a significant issue in clinical settings, particularly regarding academic accommodations and access to controlled substances by university students. This article discusses the definitions, base rates, external incentives, psychometric detection strategies, and ethical implications of feigned ADHD. ADHD is characterized by a pattern of developmentally inappropriate inattentive, overactivity, and/or impulsivity, often persisting into adulthood. Estimates of the prevalence of non-credible ADHD in university settings range from 25 to 50%. Feigned ADHD may be detected with symptom and performance validity measures. The existing empirical research has failed to produce a clear psychometric solution to this important differential diagnosis. Identifying feigned ADHD is a difficult task, possibly because of the highly transparent, face-valid diagnostic criteria, and an atypical malingering strategy that evades established detection methods. Performance validity tests remain the best available method for identifying non-credible presentation during psychological evaluations of ADHD. Future practice recommendations should consider educational policy, diagnostic criteria, and psychometric research, including the development of self-report measures that reliably differentiate between genuine and feigned ADHD.     

Government & education news

Abstract

THIS ARTICLE details research which attempts to assess what effect electronic delivery of law modules has on actual student assessment performance. The authors reviewed the assessment results of students who had taken both conventionally and electronically delivered modules and compared and contrasted individual student performances in all the modules studied by them in a particular semester. As far as the authors’ researches were able to ascertain this was a relatively unique piece of research as far as legal study is concerned. We found that weaker students (those who might ordinarily fail or scrape a bare pass) were achieving a mark some 10% higher than that achieved in the conventionally delivered modules; pushing those students into the lower second category—the assessment criteria for such classification demanding evidence of deep as opposed to surface learning. However there was little or no difference in the marks achieved by upper second quality students.

The authors acknowledge that many factors affect the quality of assessment performance and that, whilst the article addresses some of the variables, any specific conclusions based on results alone are open to question.

Furthermore, we accept the limitations of a small and narrow statistical sample and that therefore this can only be a survey rather than a controlled experiment.

Nevertheless we believe that as part of the debate on the role of Communication &; Information Technology (C &; IT) it has a useful role to play.

Inevitably an article such as this trespasses on many pedagogical issues deserving debate which goes beyond the objectives of this discussion.     

Problem based learning in legal education: Intentionally overlooked or merely misunderstood

Abstract

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT is widely considered to be central to student achievement. Unfortunately, however, on modules with large numbers of students, there is not sufficient time for academic staff to provide written feedback to all students on a regular basis. It is proposed that a potential solution to this problem is the provision of online multiple‐choice questions (MCQs) which generate detailed feedback to students who attempt them. This article critically analyses the implementation of online MCQs as a form of formative assessment on an undergraduate level three equity and trusts module. It is argued that MCQs, when prepared in the light of relevant academic theories and implemented appropriately, are a means by which deep learning can be stimulated and tested with sufficient rigour, and are therefore a suitable method of formative assessment at undergraduate level. It is also argued that there are significant advantages to be gained from making the MCQs and feedback available to students online. Analysis and synthesis of available data from the module in question bears out these arguments, suggesting that the provision of online formative assessment in this manner is indeed beneficial to students.     

Towards a Contextual Definition of Rape: Consent,Coercion and Constructive Force

This paper considers ‘consent-based’ and ‘coercion-based’ models of defining rape. It argues that the ability of these models to adequately protect against violations of sexual autonomy is dependent on their engagement with the broader circumstances within which sexual choices are made. Following an analysis of both models it is argued that attempts to contextualise consent and coercion are often undermined by evaluative framings that encourage scrutiny of the complainant's actions at the expense of engagement with the broader circumstances. This is particularly problematic where rape occurs as a result of non-violent coercion and the victim does not verbally or physically demonstrate their lack of consent. The paper draws on United States military law and argues that the doctrine of constructive force, which has been used to deal with non-violent coercion in these contexts, has the potential to progressively reshape our contextual and evaluative framings in domestic contexts.     

Assessing the quality of doctoral programs in deviance,criminology, and criminal justice: A response to Thomas and Bronick

Much attention in criminal justice and other disciplines has been focused on assessing the quality of academic pursuits and programs. With particular emphasis on a recent article by Thomas and Bronick, this article explores the limitations of such research. A general conclusions is reached that the state of the art of quality assessment is such that the results of these evaluations can only be deemed to be tentative. Further, any attempt to base program development, student application or other policy decisions on the findings of these studies is unwarranted and potentially harmful.     

“You must be joking”: the role of humour in the law classroom

There is a body of literature, including persuasive empirical evidence, linking the use of positive humour in tertiary classrooms with the creation of a relaxed learning environment, student motivation, attendance and engagement as well as positive student evaluations of teacher performance. However, the literature on the use of humour in teaching law is generally limited to anecdotal evidence. Drawing on the literature on using humour in teaching courses that students perceive as “difficult” in other disciplines, in this article we explore the benefits and pitfalls of using humour in the law classroom and provide illustrations of how humour might be used appropriately and effectively in teaching law.     

Animation and multiple-choice questions as a formative feedback tool for legal education

Two-dimensional animation when combined with multiple-choice questions affords an interesting and innovative formative feedback tool for engaging law students in problem-based learning. This article investigates methods for making animation a more accessible medium for legal academics. The article also describes, evaluates and reflects upon the results of a focus group and a survey of online law student perceptions on the combined use of animation and multiple-choice questions as a formative feedback tool. Ethical issues involving delinquent and guilty clients were used as the context in which to describe an animation workflow and explore student attitudes to animation. A website was created within which animations created by academics were included to provide feedback to scaffold student understanding of legal ethics. Students viewed the animations as a very positive learning experience, in the sense of making the lesson more interesting to learn, assisting them to learn and help visualise the ethical problems. Student comments highlighted design features which, when refined, may improve the quality of both the animations and the student experience in studying law using animation.     

Psychometric Markers of Genuine and Feigned Neurodevelopmental Disorders in the Context of Applying for Academic Accommodations

The article reviews systemic and context-specific challenges of psychoeducational assessment using two case studies: a 19-year-old woman with feigned attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a 50-year-old man with genuine dyslexia. These cases demonstrate that providing a thorough evaluation of performance validity is an essential component of determining eligibility for academic accommodations in both clinical and higher education settings. At the same time, discounting failure on certain performance validity tests may be necessary to protect against false positive errors. In addition, empirically based test selection and interpretation has the potential to enhance the clinical confidence during differential diagnosis. Examining the internal consistency of a given neurocognitive profile provides valuable clinical information to determine both the credibility of the overall presentation and applying established diagnostic criteria. Although clinical research has yet to identify definitive markers of non-credible neurocognitive profiles, a multivariate approach to performance validity assessment that combines empirically validated indicators and sound clinical judgment can improve detection rates while simultaneously protecting against false positive errors.     

Lockdown labs: Pivoting to remote learning in forensic science higher education

Forensic Science training and education is reliant on the application of knowledge to casework scenarios and the development of key practical skills that provide a platform for career development in the field. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a number of challenges to effectively deliver practical content online and remotely, whilst still meeting intended learning outcomes, accreditation requirements, and attaining a high level of student engagement and experience. The MSc Forensic Science programme featured in this study is a one-year degree programme with a strong emphasis on the practical elements of forensic science, and a diverse international student cohort. Therefore, the restrictions associated with the pandemic made it very difficult not only to plan the delivery of material but also to adapt the content itself for effective online and remote learning.By focusing on the intended learning outcomes, a number of innovative teaching practices were developed to successfully transition from face-to-face teaching to online and remote delivery. A range of online and practical resources were developed, including a laboratory home kit, demonstration videos, online practical technique simulations (produced by Learning Science), data analysis tasks, and interactive workshops and activities, all designed to consolidate student learning and build confidence, in preparation for such a time that on campus practical teaching could resume. The initial feedback received from these activities from both staff and students was extremely positive and the transition from classroom to online teaching was a success, as reflected in student attainment and later student feedback. Students reported that they had a better understanding of what was expected of them, including knowledge of protocols and techniques, and felt much more confident moving into the next stage of their learning development. Even though the practical laboratory sessions were the most significantly affected by the restrictions associated with the pandemic, and resulted in reduced interaction for the students, this was counteracted by virtual sessions and workshops, which gave students the opportunity to engage with each other and communicate their thoughts and opinions, ultimately building key presentation and group working skills.This case study will detail the pivot to remote learning, as well as critically evaluating the feedback from students and discussing the changes that are likely to be retained as longer-term teaching practices, versus those that were a necessary temporary addition or adjustment in response to the pandemic.     

Willing Suspension of Disbelief: A Study in Online Learning Through Simulation,and Its Potential for Deeper Learning in Higher Education

This article describes the replacement of a “traditionally taught” law of probate course (lectures and workshops/tutorials) with an on-line collaborative learning exercise using simulation and role-play which is referred to hereafter as the Transactional Learning Project (TLP). The article considers the theory that the emotional engagement that comes about through role play in simulation leads to deeper learning, a process (Maharg in Simulation and the affective domain, Cambridge, 2010) has dubbed as the “integration of the cognitive and the affective”. The article includes statistical analysis of student feedback on the TLP in an attempt to measure how easy it is to carry students predisposed to expect information to be “given” rather than “acquired” along the journey leading away from traditional didactic teaching. The project was motivated partly by the dearth of such learning practices on the Legal Practice Course. It is suggested that the findings of the project add to the body of research (Keats and Boughey in High Educ 27:59–73, 1994) which tends to illustrate the success in terms of student learning from working in leaderless (i.e where the Tutor is absent from the collaborative group) groups engaged in practical tasks involving simulation.     

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.     

The law commission and judicial law reform*

This article explores ways in which mooting can provide high school students with insight into life as a law student. In gaining high school students’ insights on their early exposure to a legal research skills environment involving oral argumentation exercises, the authors argue that law schools can incorporate experiential learning pedagogies into student recruitment efforts to ensure that both law school and prospective student are better prepared for each other during the delivery and study of law at university level.     

Peer Interaction and Engagement Through Online Discussion Forums: A Cautionary Tale

Following an very inspiring presentation from the REAP (Re-Engineering Assessment Practices in Scottish Higher Education) team, I attempted to address problems of attrition and non-engagement amongst first year law students by introducing online small group activities based around discussion forums into the level 4 (first year) Legal Method course. The idea was to build student engagement through teamwork online, thus moving towards a constructivist theory of learning (Jonassen et al. in Am J Distance Educ 9(2):7, 1995), and to increase formative feedback to students at an early stage in their course without unduly increasing my workload. (The benefits of early formative feedback are well documented. See, for example Yorke in Leaving early; Undergraduate non-completion in higher education, Falmer, London, 1999; Yorke and Longden in Retention and student success in higher education, SRHE and Open University Press, 2004). The students were randomly divided into groups of between 8 and 12 students using the WebCT group function. WebCT was at that time the university??s main virtual learning environment and available to all students enrolled on courses through the university portal system. Group discussion forums were provided for a series of activities, complementing the normal lecture pattern of two hours?? lecture plus one hour??s seminar each week. This paper considers the results over 2?years of introducing this system in a widening participation university. It did not prove possible to reproduce the success experienced in the REAP project. This paper attempts to unravel the various reasons for this, technical, pedagogical and practical. This case study is an example of action research, as I was both dismayed and intrigued by the negative reaction of the students and attempted to discover the reasons for it. The findings and conclusions drawn from them will be used to remodel this aspect of the course in 2010?C2011.     

European human rights law and the United Kingdom—A note

This article asserts that established concerns about access to, and widening participation in higher education, are now reflected in interest around retention. Those law schools with inclusive admissions policies and widening participation practices face a number of challenges around the financial and human costs of poor retention. Most of these law schools fall within the “new university” sector.

This article argues that poor retention among first‐year law students often reflects a lack of engagement. This lack of engagement exists in two key relationships; first that of between students and the teaching and learning structures of their law school and university, and second between first year law students and many of the staff who teach them. It is argued that this lack of engagement reflects a clash of cultures, first between the requirements and structures of the law school and the everyday life experience of our students, and second between ourselves as teachers and our students.

The utilisation of aspects of the Oxbridge tutorial model of higher education together with an appropriate use of new technology is suggested as a response to this cultural clash and as a way of increasing engagement with our students.

In support of these arguments, the article refers extensively to the evidence presented to the House of Commons Education and Employment Committee hearings on retention in higher education, and to the Committee's conclusions.