Law’s RiT Project: Students’ Use of On-line Digital Resources
The Law School’s Research Informed Teaching project team held a successful and
well attended workshop on 21st October on the use of on-line resources and research
skills. After an introduction by Keith Puttick, and presentation by Chris Harrison on
self-organized learning, Caralyn Duignan from Lexis Nexis - one of the project’s
partners – talked to participants (139 Level 6 students and staff) about the growing
importance of on-line systems as a research tool, and in improving the quality of
legal advice and transactions. She emphasized the importance of students, lawyers,
and staff becoming proficient users. Helped by worked examples Caralyn guided
participants through the many functions and applications offered by Lexis Library and
PSL (Professional Support Lawyer). The workshop was recorded for part-time
students and students at other locations. A further workshop, supported by the Law
professional bodies, Thomson Reuters (Westlaw/Insight), and Jordans Family Law,
will be held in January.
The focus of the project team’s research this year - undertaken as part of a three
year VC-funded RiT project evaluating the use of Law online systems as a teaching
and learning resource - has been on improving the design of small group tasks.
Team members and module leaders in the modules being evaluated have also been
increasing the opportunities for students to develop and deploy research skills, and
to utilize research-related skills effectively. Reflection, which is closely allied to
enquiry skills, now features strongly in the project’s work, assisted by the work of
Judith Tillson. In one of Judith’s modules, Commercial Law, it is being embedded in
research activities, and usage of on-line journals will become a mandatory element in
the module’s activities and summative assessment.
Monitoring and tracking of systems’ usage has been assisted by Lexis Nexis this
year. However, the research is also helped by students’ own records including
Blackboard journal entries after workshops and follow-up tasks, and by the use of
group wikis in Blackboard. These provide a valuable record of the skills deployed in
preparatory research, transactional learning, and team working – for example ahead
of an Employment Law moot in December.
Team members are Keith Puttick, Judith Tillson, Christine Harrison, and Alison Pope.
The research is due to inform a paper for the Association of Law Teachers Annual
Conference ‘50 Years of Legal Education’ in March 2015 (on the conference theme
‘Predications of Legal Education in the Future’), and forthcoming articles in The Law
Teacher.
Contacts
Keith Puttick, Associate Professor of Law
k.a.puttick@staffs.ac.uk
Judith Tillson, Senior Lecturer in Contract & Commercial Law j.a.tillson@staffs.ac.uk;
tel: 01782 294467
Christine Harrison, E-Learning Facilitator & Specialist, Academic Development Unit
c.m.harrison@staffs.ac.uk
Alison Pope, Learning & Information Services Manager, Information Services
a.j.pope@staffs.ac.uk