| Abstract: | 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. |
