Using problem-based learning in law

Fully Booked

23 April 2002

University of Warwick

This workshop marked the setting up of the UKCLE working group on problem-based learning. Karen Hinett (UKCLE Education Developer) facilitated the meeting, opening with a working definition of PBL:

• the problem sets the context for learning and is the driving force for the learning process
• PBL is based on real facts or a simulation, and requires students to find a solution
• PBL is both a method and an approach

Andrew Scott (University of East Anglia) then gave an overview of problem-based learning in law, starting with a series of anecdotes from his teaching experience. Andrew defines PBL as “student-centred learning in which the problem directs students’ enquiries”. It may be developed using a range of ways and means.

With PBL students develop a range of transferable skills and a more full disciplinary knowledge. Using PBL can enthuse students and allow them to develop a practised self confidence and sense of awareness, as well as a greater sense of commitment to and participation in the life of the school/department. However, some may be initially hostile to the introduction of group work. From the perspective of the academic, using PBL permits a shift away from a prescriptive, didactic or authoritative mode of teaching. It may be seen as a form of research-led teaching, stimulating renewed interest, and may offer an element of distinction for the school/department.

PBL has been taken up with enthusiasm in the US, Canada (McMaster), Australia and at Maastricht. It is seen as having a low take-up in the UK, as it has not yet been widely introduced at the institutional or unit level. This may be due to a lack of awareness, and a fear of or aversion to a paradigm shift, however there are also some significant obstacles to using PBL and at the moment there is a dearth of practical materials or working models in law.

PBL is a new concept of course design, in terms of both delivery and assessment. There is a time commitment in preparing the shift to using PBL, as well as on-going resource implications, especially where there are high student numbers. Both students and staff may need encouragement to participate fully and develop the skills required to implement a PBL approach.

Andrew is undertaking research into using PBL and is working on a pilot study on the law degree programme at UEA from October 2002. PBL is being used in 5-6 units spread throughout the years of the law degree programme, with two groups of 12 students (three sets of four) in each pilot. It is a three week programme, subject to student and faculty review. Initial staff development activity for PBL will look at group management and problem design.

Richard Grimes (College of Law) then looked at using real clients as the source of the problems in his presentation on learning through problem-solving in a real client context. With this approach to PBL, clinic is the method and the problem is the vehicle.

Applying a PBL approach to client work sees real clients being used as the source of the problems to be solved by students. It offers the added advantages of linking theory with practice and providing structured reflection. Students’ motivation may be improved through contact with clients – and they are given an opportunity to shine!

Several options may be used to identify clients:

• in-house advice or representation – in-house clinics, such as the College of Law’s Legal Advice Centres in Birmingham, Chester and London, the law clinics at Sheffield Hallam and Kent, and the Student Law Office at Northumbria
• outreach advice or representation – based in the community, such as a market stall (Hull), at possession days and local rent assessment panel hearings (College of Law), at law centres or citizens advice bureaux (College of Law Guildford, Sunderland)
• placement clinics – with law centres or citizens advice bureaux (Queen’s Belfast), mediation clinics (Griffith University, Australia), with UNHCR, the Immigration Asylum Service, Shelter and Crisis (College of Law)
• street law programmes – problem-solving through legal literacy, as introduced in Georgetown, Washington DC, in the 1970s and developed subsequently in Africa, Asia and eastern Europe, and in the UK by the College of Law and Queen’s Belfast

The main challenges to this approach are the selection of students to take part in the scheme, together with student supervision and assessment. It is also a resource intensive approach, in terms of both human and technical resources. However, ready made, relevant material becomes available to integrate into the curriculum, linking knowledge, skills and values, and everyone is a winner, from the student to the client and the provider to the employer, as well as the profession itself and the wider public.