Workbook integrating sustainability concepts in legal system and method

Subject/module: Legal system and method (year long compulsory module)
Level: undergraduate (level 1). The module is compulsory in the first year of undergraduate study in law. The students are full time enrolled.
Cohort: 160 (LLB and BA/BSc major/minor with law). 20-25% of class are law major/minors.
Summary: use of a workbook to introduce different models of legal system and promote autonomous learning. The relevance of the sustainability concept to legal systems is reflected and provides a themed focus for some of the exercises.
Contact: Jo Sellick, University of Plymouth (e-mail: joanne.sellick@plymouth.ac.uk)

Revalidation of the legal systems and method module led to the aim of injecting a broader perspective. A workbook was introduced in session 2007-08, with the twin objectives of promoting greater learner autonomy and familiarising the cohort with a broader range of legal paradigms – two distinct needs at stage 1 of an undergraduate law degree.

Mode of delivery

The workbook makes up around one sixth (four weeks) of the teaching time for the module.

• week 1: an initial lecture to introduce the workbook and run through what is required
• weeks 2 and 3: self directed learning followed by the winter break
• week 4: assessment

The workbook is distributed via the university’s VLE. As it is designed to promote autonomous learning, there is a balance between directed tasks/reading utilising both electronic and ‘paper’ resources and the actual practice of discovering answers. After the introductory lecture giving a basic introduction to the legal systems and the workbook approach the learner is left to their own devices to read though the workbook and attempt various directed tasks (see further below).

In theory the work should be individual, although there is obviously a likelihood that students may attempt tasks together.

Learning approach and intended outcomes

The workbook aims to prepare for a greater understanding of the English legal system by developing a basic knowledge of other types of legal system and the way in which they interface.

As this is a stage 1 module the team is not concerned with an extremely deep appreciation of the subject matter, but rather with the ability to locate it, to understand constituent elements of the ‘duties’ imposed by sustainable development and other principles, and to understand the contribution they make to the shape of the legal environment in which wider obligations are cast.

The workbook contains step by step instructions and basic introductions to certain themes. The learner is required to ‘actively’ read though the workbook and to locate and summarise information on the basis of directed reading and tasks.

Learning outcomes in relation to sustainability literacy are:

• students will be able to locate and identify the meaning of sustainable development in the context of different legal systems
• students will recognise the importance of guiding principles, such as sustainable development, in shaping law and policy within international and EC law

Examples of learning tasks

1. Understanding the concept of globalisation – students are advised that “Challenges facing the international community…and consequently international law and its institutions…include fears that the globalisation process will bring an increase in economic inequality, thereby disadvantaging the poorest and that the effects of climate change pose an enormous threat to the very existence of humanity”. A task then requires the learner to identify the UN Millennium Development Goals from the UN’s website and to reflect upon the ‘environment and sustainability’ targets.
2. International law – finding the UCED (Rio) Declaration and Agenda 21, and considering certain principles from it. The learner is advised to access the United Nations Environment Programme pages, and from there to go to the ‘governance and law’ section, to then click on ‘about the programme’ and then to discover ‘UNCED 1992’, and finally to note what is stated as the defined rights and responsibilities of states regarding sustainable development.
3. EC law (1) – having been introduced to the development of the EC Treaty and its evolutionary nature, learners are directed towards the EC Commission’s pages, and, among other exercises, are tasked with locating the EU’s policies and then those which are ‘cross cutting’, and then via that link to the ‘sustainable development’ resources to note what the seven key themes of the EU’s revised sustainability strategy are.
4. EC law (2) – learners are required to locate and note the Tasks of the Community as set out in the Treaty of Rome, which now includes a requirement that the EC’s policies should be sustainable and should respect the environment.

Assessment strategy

The learners are given until after the winter break before they are assessed by way of a summative MCQ test (worth 20%) on the first term’s work in the module, including the workbook. An (optional) question on the content of the workbook is also included in the end of year examination.

An opportunity for formative self assessment consisting of self generated feedback is built into the workbook, and written generic feedback explaining the answers in the MCQ test are provided on the VLE after the marks have been released.

Outcomes for learners

Learner feedback has been positive. The module evaluation included the following comments:

• there were sufficient guidelines to study alone
• the MCQ test gave an opportunity to revise and to see how we had done so far
• clear objectives, interesting, appropriate and challenging

Differentials between performances are not meaningful as yet, as the workbook has only been in use for one year. An increase in the average grade for the MCQ test on material covered in the first term was noted, and this aspect will be revisited in next year’s monitoring.

Reflections

The principal aim of the workbook was to promote learner autonomy and to introduce different models of what represents a ‘legal system’. The team also sought to integrate wider principles informing legal and policy regulation, such as the sustainable development idea – elevated to a high status through the EC Treaty and, since Rio and beyond, a key tenet of international law thinking. Based on MCQ scores and learner feedback, this has worked.

A small minority of students did not fully engage with the process of working through the workbook and adequately extracting the knowledge required from the wider sources. If their failings here could be categorised, it would be safe to say that they related to time management issues – this is something that hopefully would be addressed in their reflective PDP, an embedded element within the module. In addition, it should not be assumed that all learners are online sophisticates – some struggled, but availed themselves of tutor, librarian and other help to hone their skills.

The workbook format seems to work well to help develop autonomous learning. The subject matter may have contributed to this – the use of sustainable development as the basis for some of the exercises prompted interest, with student reflections demonstrating a high degree of satisfaction. The explanation of a different legal structure, combined with an explanation of certain of its foundational principles, helps to contextualise and make the subject interesting for the learner.

As a vehicle for broadening perspectives on legal systems the workbook has been a success. As a means of fostering a greater understanding of the sustainability concept, only time will tell. A particular concern of colleagues within the law group is that the education for sustainable development (ESD) concept should be pervasive in the law programme but should not dominate, with ‘exposure’ rather than ‘promotion’ as the watchword.

Last Modified: 4 June 2010