Linking teaching and research

I believe that the main hope for realising a genuinely student centred undergraduate education lies in re-engineering the teaching/research nexus.

— Paul Ramsden, (then) Chief Executive, Higher Education Academy

The teaching/research nexus in law

During 2002-03 UKCLE participated in an LTSN Generic Centre project on linking teaching and research in the disciplines!. Our objectives were to put in place support strategies enabling law teachers to:

• develop student research skills
• use learning, teaching and assessment processes that simulate research processes
• use first hand experience of legal practice to enhance student understanding
• integrate their own research findings into the curriculum

We undertook a survey of current practice and held focus groups with staff and students in five law schools, exploring attitudes and perceptions of what linking teaching and research entails. Elements relevant to the project were incorporated into the UKCLE events programme, focusing on the role of research and its methodologies for informing learning and teaching. We also collected and disseminated case studies and examples of the teaching/research nexus.

Unexpected outcomes included dialogue with the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) concerning research capacity in law, training needs and support for both socio-legal and pedagogic research. We also provided consultancy for Birmingham Law School on the design and implementation of a new research-based learning module and entered into dialogue with the Carnegie Foundation and the American Association of Law Schools.

Resources on research-based learning

• Research and teaching – Higher Education Academy site including Developing undergraduate research and inquiry (2009) and Linking teaching and research in disciplines and departments (PDF file, 2007) and examples from other disciplines
• Linking research and teaching – Autumn 2002 issue of the Academy’s newsletter
• Research-teaching linkages: enhancing graduate attributes – outcomes and resources from the quality enhancement theme in Scotland (2006-08)

Law examples and case studies:

• Enquring Minds – paper presented at Learning in Law Annual Conference 2009 describing a project at Staffordshire evaluating activity-based approaches to final year students’ research tasks
• Law in development dissertations (PDF format) – case study from the TELRI project at the University of Warwick (2001)
• The pedagogic impact of law school sabbaticals – UKCLE funded project researching the potential of the sabbatical to enhance research and teaching links
• Research-based learning at Warwick – outline of activities at the University of Warwick
• Research matters: learning, teaching and the role of research – article on the role of research in learning and teaching at Sheffield Hallam University (2003)
• Research on a prescribed case study module – case study from Birmingham Law School (2005)

Last Modified: 30 June 2010