CILASS: promoting inquiry-based learning and information literacy

In this article from the Spring 2006 issue of Directions Natasha Semmens and Mark Taylor (University of Sheffield) provide an update on the work of CILASS, the Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences. For the latest on the law school project contact Natasha on e-mail: n.c.semmens@sheffield.ac.uk or see the CILASS website.

CILASS is a HEFCE funded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), bringing together the University of Sheffield’s Faculties of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in a five year programme of pedagogical research and reform. CILASS is committed to transforming the learning experience of 10,000 students, promoting information literacy, inquiry-based learning and collaborative inquiry.

The first phase of the School of Law’s involvement in CILASS is a project which contributes significantly to the development of a new foundational module for all Level One students. The module, Understanding Law, has two key aims. First of all, it will seek to encourage students to recognise studying law to be about more than memorising a list of rules and case names and then applying them mechanically to a set of circumstances. We aim to demonstrate how important it is to understand the dynamic of law within a changing cultural, philosophical, and technological context.

The second key aim is to change the way in which students interact with the foundational material provided to them at the beginning of a law course. Details of the English legal system, how to research it efficiently, and how then to present and accurately reference what one finds effectively, sometimes seem to lack immediacy, relevance and application to a first year student if presented in a traditional lecture/seminar format. In this new module we will be introducing innovative methods of teaching and learning alongside a more traditional delivery framework to try to combat some of these perceived problems.

As a key part of the module we are introducing an ‘electronic workbook’, which will contain an extensive series of research exercises. These will be accompanied by review activities, which will themselves be susceptible to self, peer and tutor review. These activities will be designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of the English legal system and legal method and reasoning in a more active, and interactive, manner.

Students will no longer simply be told how important the fundamentals are. It is hoped instead that they will discover their importance for themselves by reflecting both upon their own work and also the work of others. Essentially, it is intended that students will develop the skills of legal inquiry through legal inquiry. By drawing appropriate links with other first semester studies we intend to raise awareness of information that might potentially be relevant to legal argument. Techniques and methods of legal research will then be demonstrated that will enable students to find that information effectively through diverse paper-based and electronic resources.

The workbook will aim to improve students’ ability to retrieve information efficiently, assess its relevance and authority confidently, and then use it effectively in the construction of legal argument. The appropriate reflection upon such activity will be supported and progressed through student colloquia within technology-rich learning environments (teaching rooms equipped with networked computers and electronic whiteboards). Through collaborative activities, it is hoped that students will become actively engaged with foundational material at the beginning of their studies and be challenged to consider the ‘outputs’ of legal systems (legislation and case law) in their political, philosophical and wider social contexts.

Both workbook exercises and colloquia activities will require the students to manipulate material and construct arguments which will, within both real and virtual communities, be open to peer and tutor discussion. In addition, students will be required to keep a ‘learning portfolio’, encouraging them to make links between the workbook and the lecture and seminar programmes and provide ‘best evidence’ of their learning achievements. It is intended that the portfolio can be kept by the students and referred back to throughout their legal studies.

Undoubtedly, this is an ambitious project. Through significant funding from CILASS we have been able to facilitate staff ‘buy-outs’ for developmental work and to equip three of our teaching rooms with the necessary technology. We also have extensive support, both practical and pedagogical, from the CILASS Learning Development and Research Associates and are working closely with the university’s library. But this is essentially a school initiative, and it can only be successful as part of a wider programme of teaching innovation. We are relying heavily on the enthusiasm of our colleagues and collaborations between teaching teams and, although we recognise the many problems which lie ahead of us, we are optimistic that this project will lead the way in the development of a fresh and inspiring approach to teaching and learning within the Faculty of Law at Sheffield as it approaches its centenary year.

Last Modified: 4 June 2010