Retention of law students: diaries, study skills and reflective learning - what works?

In this article from the Spring 2007 issue of Directions Simon Brooman (Liverpool John Moores University) outlines the law school’s successful retention strategy, which uses a combination of approaches including a reflective essay.

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For more than ten years the university sector has been guided, harassed and cajoled to improve retention rates. What was the starting pistol for this? Was it the Dearing Report’s recommendation to “give high priority to developing and implementing learning and teaching strategies which focus on the promotion of students’ learning”? Or was it the House of Commons Education and Employment Committee of 2001, which looked at the most effective methods to reduce non-continuation of students?

Somewhere along the line the sector suddenly seemed to be jumping head over heels to do something about retention rates – new front-loaded systems, better personal tutoring systems, early feedback, reflective diaries, conference papers, in-house staff development – all were brought to bear on the, apparently novel suggestion to some, that we really should be doing something to help students pass the first year, let alone a three year law programme.

What was the problem?

The School of Law at Liverpool John Moores had a problem similar to many other law schools, particularly in ‘new’ universities. Student retention rates appeared to be falling from the late 1990s, and no one was entirely sure why. Certainly there had been a ‘drift’ in several possible influences, but definitive analysis was inconclusive. The ‘old’ universities were taking more students – was this having an effect on the quality of our intake? Was the new A level structure to blame? Students began to take up more part time jobs as shortfalls in the grants system began to bite – was this affecting their studying? It certainly appeared to be affecting the raw attendance figures at seminars and tutorials. And finally, our retention figures appeared to be suffering in some years – ranging from 70-86% over the three years 1999-2001. Not a disaster, but for a law school used to retention rates holding consistently at 85-88% a cause for concern. The picture for part time students was worse – sometimes far worse. We had some serious questions that needed an answer.

The solution

The answer, if one could ever be found to all the problems of retention, was complicated. We actually had to start from the basis that some ‘lack of retention’ is essential and probably desirable. Some losses are integral to a robust system of marking and standards, but where to draw the line? I was of the belief that a programme with our intake profile might be able to achieve 90%, but that 83-88% was a more suitable benchmark.

We had already begun the idea of front-loading some form of support by introducing a modified legal skills module in 1998. Following research involving third year students and a review of the published literature I produced a report examining the whole question of retention. I recommended, amongst other things, the following strategy:

• better identification and targeting of at risk students
• a front-loaded support module
• earlier formal assessment feedback within the first ten weeks of students commencing the law degree
• a more coherent pastoral support strategy

The overall intention was to create a coordinated approach to raising retention rates, improving the performance of our students and creating independent learners at an earlier stage in the law degree.

What was introduced?

The main component of the strategy, introduced in 2003, is a six week front-loaded module called Independent Learning in Law (ILL). The module aims to bring some of the ‘new thinking’ on study skills and reflective learning to bear on the law degree. It is fairly staff intensive, involving ten staff, and there were many early discussions concerning ‘resources’ that had to be overcome.

The ILL module encourages students to investigate and discuss learning techniques, both general and specific to law. (Incidentally, the ‘ILL’ acronym is unfortunate, but not as unfortunate as the first incarnation of the module. This was ‘Effective Learning in Law’, which soon became known as ‘Effing Learning Law’ – the lesson on careful naming was well noted!). As for content of the module – particular attention is paid to learning skills and theory, and to exam and essay techniques, but the module has continued to evolve. For example, there is now considerable second and third year involvement in delivering seminars to the first year, which has proved to be very much appreciated by the first years and adds to the CVs of those helping in delivery.

Of particular note in the delivery of the module is the assessment. Initially I introduced both a standard essay and an essay (or ‘learning report’) to review the first 13 weeks of the course. The reflective essay was a revelation to us all. I think it would be fair to say that many staff were originally sceptical, but on receiving and marking the essays they were so impressed with the standard and thought put into this work that it became the sole method of assessment the following year. This remains the case today – we remain impressed by the honesty, self analysis and learning related research carried out by students new to university life. For many of us it has had the additional benefit of enhancing our appreciation of the first year experience in general, and our knowledge of our tutees. The essay requires very careful explanation, criteria setting and guidance – but its overall benefits are recognised by both students and staff.

What was the effect on retention rates?

The improvement in retention rates was striking and immediate, and has remained broadly consistent ever since. For full timers the retention rates for first years have moved from the 70-86% range in the three years 1999-2001 to 83-88% in the four years 2003-06 – a small but significant improvement. The improvement in part time retention was remarkable. Whereas first year completion rates had sometimes been as low as 50% they now follow a similar rate to the full timers, with 85% or so proceeding into the second year.

We have not carried out specific research to examine why this happened, but anecdotal evidence from discussions with part time students in ILL seminars revealed several advantages that they had gleaned from the changes. Chief amongst these was the examination of learning techniques for students, many of whom were returning to study. The provision of early feedback on one piece of work also appears to have settled nerves before negative thinking on ability had become entrenched.

Student perceptions of the ILL module

A questionnaire on the module was undertaken as part of a research study in 2003-04. Results were obtained from 126 students, with some of the most striking results supporting the new strategies as being significant in improving retention rates. 89% of respondents felt that the module had helped them to improve their performance. 67% felt it had helped them to adjust to university life and 82% that it had made them more aware of their potential strengths and weaknesses. A significant number – 85% – kept a diary, and of those, 58% found it to be a useful aid.

Feedback from ILL reflective essays

If I am truly honest, my initial thoughts were that ILL would be a waste of time. However, I am glad to say that I surprised myself and completely changed my view. I have to admit that my reflective diary made extremely interesting reading, in particular I could see my ups and downs, likes and dislikes and feel it necessary to keep it going throughout this next semester.

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part time student

At first I was reluctant to fill in my reflective diary as I thought it was pointless and would just be a waste of time. I did not see how I would benefit from this because surely getting as far as a degree course meant that I was quite capable of learning? However, over time I noticed just how beneficial reflective learning was, as it made apparent to me all the flaws that existed with my learning style, but I also learned how to combat these problems and ultimately learn more effectively.

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full time student

So what works?

It is difficult to apportion credit to any particular factor in the new strategies employed on the law degree, as each student appears to be drawing individual benefits according to his or her needs. The combination of an existing legal skills module, a new front-loaded ‘learning to learn’ module, a reflective report, personal oral feedback on a piece of work as soon as is practicable and enhanced pastoral support have all made significant contributions to retention rates. This is particularly notable in relation to part time students. The course currently has the best retention rate at Liverpool John Moores for courses with 200 or more first years, and the strategy has prevented some students from falling through the retention net, contributed to our mission on access to higher education and helped fulfil a moral obligation to give students the best chance of obtaining a law degree.

Last Modified: 4 June 2010