The burden of learning case law: using technology to enhance student acquisition of foundational
legal knowledge
Project leaders: Suzy Houston and Dot Reid, School of Law
Contact details: suzy.houston@glasgow.ac.uk; dot.reid@glasgow.ac.uk
Other contributors: Barry MacKay
Anki software: http://ankisrs.net/
Summary
Students of Law are required to develop a foundational knowledge in case law, statutes, codes and
regulatory laws, all of which all of which constitute legal authority and, therefore, are the building
blocks required in order to understand what the law is. Students must also acquire high-level analytical
skills and the ability to use those building blocks to develop legal arguments .
This project aims to develop an online resource which provides training in the use of Anki, a program
whose multimedia flashcard output tests the knowledge of the information contained within an
underlying database according to parameters set by the learner. Flashcards can be accessed via
computer or mobile device, and can be shared between users.
Anki provides accessible user instructions, but mastering the software remains a significant barrier to
students who are already trying to manage a considerable workload but wish to adopt the software to
aid their learning practice1.
This project aims to provide e-learning for students in using Anki for learning case law via an
accessible and scalable format which can be housed within the moodle environment. It aligns with the
University’s Teaching and Learning Strategy as it involves the harnessing of innovative technology to
enable students to enhance their approach to learning.
Aims and Outcomes
The primary aim of this project is to create an online multimedia resource for first year undergraduate
students of law to demonstrate the Anki software and show how they can apply it to manage and
enhance their learning of large sets of case law and similar information. The project will include:

A short introductory lecture by Dot Reid explaining the tool and its potential application.

Creation of an online multimedia training module in how to use Anki.

Potential creation of additional modules which provide more tailored, subject-based
training.

A side investigation into how students of Law currently manage their learning of
substantive law

Report on the feasibility of the Anki software for undergraduate students as a learning
tool.
Previous Work
A short pilot has already taken place which involved a student, Barry McKay. Barry is a current fasttrack law student who used Anki for his own learning and had the skills to demonstrate it to his peers.
First year students in the core Obligations 1B class were invited to attend a one-hour workshop led by
Barry McKay which demonstrated the software. Students were invited to bring laptops or other mobile
devices to this workshop, and to download the software. Two short lectures had been recorded on
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We know from student feedback that a significant number of first year students did not take the opportunity
offered to familiarise themselves with the software because they felt they lacked the time to do so
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video, and the workshop demonstrated how to translate the lecture into helpful flashcards in order to
capture the principal learning points. Barry also produced 2 sample databases for students to use, based
on these short lectures.
It is hoped that construction of an e-learning resource would make it possible to provide this training to
a wider audience and in a more flexible and scalable format.
Student Engagement
Those who used it (around 30 students) were very positive, found it helpful, one student said it had
“transformed” the way she learned. Those who did not use it commented that it was because of a
perceived lack to time to master the software, some also did not understand how it would benefit their
learning.
Methodology
This project has three main phases:
Phase 1: BUILD
This will involve the writing and production of the multimedia resource using the Camtasia software.
The training module will move through a series of narrated animated screenshots, showing students
how to build the flashcard databases. This will be contextualised by a video piece at the beginning
which will consist of a short informal interview with Barry MacKay about why he uses the software
and how it can assist students in their learning of substantive law.
Phase 2: IMPLEMENTATION
When the resource has been built it will be embedded into moodle and tested for usability. A cohort of
students from Dr Reid’s Weeks 1-6 Semester 2 Level 1 teaching load for 2013/14 (cohort 1A) will be
identified as participants for the study, alongside a control group (cohort 1B) who use means other than
Anki for learning case law in Semester 2. Cohort 1A will be given access to the Anki training module
and asked to apply the tool as part of their learning and assessment practice during Semester 2.
In Semester 2 weeks 6-11, a new set of students from a second year class in succession law taught by
Dr Reid will form cohort 2A (Anki users) and cohort 2B (control group). It is hoped this will provide a
large enough sample of students and individual learning styles to provide a robust test of the tool.
Phase 3: EVALUATION
All participants will be asked to take part in an online feedback activity delivered via moodle.
Additional focus groups or interviews may be arranged to inform the online feedback if found to be
necessary.
Transferability and Sustainability
The outcomes of this project could easily be transferred to any student audience in any discipline where
large amounts of facts and/ or figures require to be retained. The software itself was developed for
language learning, and lends itself to the activity of learning large amounts of vocabulary, but it could
be applied to learning other more scientific data sets, such as formulae. If successful, the training
modules could be tailored to fit specific non-law disciplines, or a more generic style of training module
could be developed which fits with a range of potential types of knowledge.
Due to the potential for sharing of flashcards between users and the potential to incorporate multimedia,
there is also scope for the development of learning resources for special needs users, e.g. via audio
flashcards.
In addition, results could be disseminated via:



Report to the Learning and Teaching Centre
Presentation to School of Law
Wider dissemination to the student body.
Incidental outcomes of this project which are not central to the main project aims include:
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

Acquisition of a good quality recording device for the School of Law which can be used for any
future audio projects within the School, of which it is likely there will be many;
Pilot and evaluation of the Camtasia software which has not yet been used in the School, but for
which there may be a number of potential applications. Having a tangible example of Camtasia
in use will potentially enhance uptake of this software in future.
Evaluation
Timetable:
June – August
2013
Sept 2013
Sept – Nov 2013
December 2013
Phase 1: Storyboard of resource (SH and BM)
Weeks
1-6
semester 2 Jan –
March 2014
Weeks
6-11
semester
2
March – June
2014
July 2014
Phase 2: Launch of resource for identified cohort 1A & 1B Semester 1 (SH &
DR)
Recording of audio track (SH and BM)
Construction of resource in Camtasia (SH)
User testing of resource within moodle (SH)
Launch of version 2 for identified cohort 2A & 2B Semester 2 (SH & DR)
Phase 3: Final evaluation and report to Learning and Teaching / School
Budget
The project will be co-ordinated by Dr Houston & Dr Reid as part of their normal duties. This will
include production of the Camtasia resource by Dr Houston and co-ordination of student feedback by
Dr Reid. The budget will be divided between equipment costs to enable professional quality recording
and payment of the contributor for his time, plus additional funds to cover small incentives for students
who take part in feedback activities.
The total funding sought is £1,350
Non salary costs
2013
2014
Equipment: H4 Zoom Voice recorder
£250
£0
Microphone
£100
£0
Barry MacKay payment
£500
£100
Incentive for student feedback and user testing
£200
£200
Other (please provide details)
Approval
Should this application be successful and be granted funding, I give consent for this application to be
published on the Learning and Teaching Centre website.
Signature of Project Leaders : Suzy Houston & Dot Reid
Additional info: Please see Barry’s CV (attached)
Statement by Barry McKay
I have worked for 11 years in IT, not only in higher education for the
University of Glasgow in second level technical support, but also in
contract work with a variety of different businesses, from sole traders, to
an international magazine, and a Fortune 500 company. The latter, Oracle,
approached me to write on a complex technical subject for a popular
audience* after reading my previous articles, which themselves were peer
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reviewed and published internationally before I was 22, and yet had any
formal university qualification in Computing. These achievements were
recognised by the University of Glasgow in my being awarded the Allaisdair
Meighan Technician of the Year Award, as the first IT, rather than labbased, technician to have done so. After attaining my Diploma in Computing,
I turned to linguistics and classics and adapted open source memory
algorithms to these different subjects. Such algorithms condense complex
memory research into a practical tool that can be used to retain large sets
of information. Using this algorithim, I completed an honours degree in
three years, attaining a first, while yet working full time in IT for the
University. Since graduating and starting the LL.B, I have adapted the
algorithm again for the large feats of memorisation required for law, as it
is perfectly suited to the task.
* http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/mckay-objects-090855.html
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