Learning in Law Annual Conference 2008: (Dis)integration...designs on the law curriculum

3-4 January 2008, University of Warwick

Exciting, worthwhile and very interesting…a must for anyone involved in legal education.

Learning in Law Annual Conference on the Web – blogged on Digital Directions (Keren Bright), (Neil Stevenson), Best practices for legal education (Steven Friedland), Lex Ferenda (Daithí Mac Síthigh) and Zeugma (Paul Maharg), with Amanda Fancourt’s reflections on the keynotes in the Spring 2008 issue of Directions.

A sustainable conference – reducing environmental impact
Learning in Law Annual Conference 2008 was a paper-free event – no bags or packs were given out, but participants took home a USB pen containing all the conference information and a host of related resources.

Keynote speakers

Our keynote speakers were Avrom Sherr (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) and Sally Kift (Queensland University of Technology, Australia) – see the keynote speakers page for more.

Conference keywords

The overall focus of the conference was curriculum design and development. To encourage innovation and create opportunities to explore new synergies, papers were grouped in sessions generated around eight keywords – read summaries below:

• Community – profiles of a lifelong learning project in Australia and the emerging SIMPLE community
• Creativity – approaches described include mobile learning and using wikis, as well as innovative curriculum design
• Critique – setting up a law school, legal education in Wales, e-learning issues and student motivation
• Engagement – concept mapping as a tool for self assessment and the value of formative assessment
• Evolution – the changing nature of the law degree and the academic/vocational divide
• Experience – reflected through work-based learning and clinic
• Integration – papers ranging from innovative approaches to teaching to new ways of integrating legal theory and skills
• Value – a survey of ethics teaching and the development of professional values

Papers from parallel sessions

• Adapting law school learning to the 21st century: constructing improved learning environments – Catherine Dunham and Steven Friedland (Elon University School of Law, USA)
• Back to the future – not rocket science: some thoughts on 20 years of consultations on the future of the BVC and pupillage – Frances Burton (University of the West of England)
• Designing student learning by promoting formative assessment – Alison Bone (University of Brighton)
• The Government of Wales Act 2006: the challenges for legal education – Richard Owen (University of Glamorgan)
• ‘It’s Land Law, Captain, but not as we know it: using drama to enhance large group learning’ – Mark Davys and Jenny Smith (Keele University)
• PodLaw: developing a portable learning environment to enhance the study of law – Chris Hull (St Mary’s University College)
• Spirituality and academic performance at a Catholic law school: an empirical study – Scott Taylor (University of St Thomas, USA)

Last Modified: 9 July 2010