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Presentation at the HEA-funded workshop 'Teaching research skills to Law Students: a workshop on best practice '. This event brought together university law teachers and law librarians to discuss legal information literacy and current best practice in teaching research skills on the LLB, the role of law librarians, how research skills are taught (including on-line methods), progression through the undergraduate curriculum, whether for credit or not, and collaborations between law librarians and academic staff. This presentation is part of a related blog post that provides an overview of the event: http://bit.ly/1bIvVhh For further details of the HEA's work on teaching research methods in the Social Sciences, please see: http://bit.ly/15go0mh
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Co‐Operation is
Better Than ConflictFiona CownieScott McGowan
History
• Work began in 2008• Year 1 “Legal Skills” core module – all law students registered
• Sixth year of collaboration recently completed
Legal Skills Module
• Intended as a rounded, general introduction to legal scholarship.
• Incorporates a variety of skills development areas, including critical thinking, writing, referencing and information skills.
• Enhancing student “Graduate Attributes” with corollary benefits in improving key employability skills.
• Keele Distinctive Curriculum – skills development “co‐curriculum” accredited by Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).
Legal Skills ‐ Interactive Teaching
• Workshops ‐ Learning Tasks• Informed by ‘constructivism’• Reading Cases & Statutes; Legal Research, Writing for Law, Thinking Critically about Law.
• Lecture, directed self study & workshop
Working Together
• Approach to learning• Respect for professional expertise• Sharing knowledge and experience• Facing the challenge of time pressure• Reflective practitioners
Library Themed Teaching
• Academic staff work with students in Law Library during series of workshops.
• Librarian runs parallel set of tutorials on two themes.
Librarian Tutorials
• One tutorial on using Library’s online resources (e‐journals; Westlaw; LexisLibrary, etc.)
• A second tutorial on referencing using the module’s OSCOLA requirements.
• 12 Librarian‐led tutorials in first semester.• Much freedom allowed, however emphasis on “active learning”.
Librarian Tutorials
Over the years have tried:• “Show and tell” of Library online resources (Westlaw, LexisLibrary, HeinOnline etc.).
• Multiple choice test (20 questions on basic resource identification, citation “deciphering” and other threshold concepts).
• Group work/Individual referencing exercise.
Other Help Resources
• Podcasts• Videos and online guides provided through Keele’s VLE (Virtual Learning Environment).
• YouTube videos• Some created using “screen‐grab” software (Camtasia or Jing).
• “Traditional” downloadable PDF guides.
Challenges
• Attendance averages at 50% for all sessions• Diversity of student ability in terms of using Library resources
and referencing• Exercises may have been elementary for some and difficult
for others i.e. a varying “zone of proximal development” (Vygotsky).
• Librarian has to support two other large schools at Keele and time is sometimes limited!
Perceived Benefits
• Student feedback positive.• Improved liaison with Library in general routinely.
• Steady improvement in Library NSS Score for law students.
Future Developments
• Collaborative work with learning technologists to develop online teaching resources.
• With the aim of enhancing learning and teaching activities.