Teaching Research Skills to Law Students: a case study from

Greenwich Sarah Crofts and

Lucy Yeatman5th February 2014

LETR• “There was a strong consensus that legal research

skills are important and need to be addressed at different stages in the training process.”

And

• “It was widely recognised that legal research skills were not sufficiently acquired by the end of the academic stage.”– See page 44

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What’s wrong with graduate research skills?

• They have learnt to use the wrong databases/can’t use free or paper sources.

• They don’t realise that sometimes there is no answer.

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What do they mean by research skills?

• LETR recommends adopting the BIALL Legal Information Literacy Statement:– Research skill 1 - Demonstrate an understanding of the

need for the thorough investigation of all relevant factual and legal issues involved in a research task

– Research skill 2 - Demonstrate the ability to undertake systematic and comprehensive legal research

– Research skill 3 - Demonstrate the ability to analyse research findings effectively

– Research skill 4 - Demonstrate the ability to present the results of research in an appropriate and effective manner • Available at

http://www.biall.org.uk/data/files/BIALL_Legal_Information_Literacy_Statement_July_2012.pdf

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Why Embed?Because students need to learn in context in order to make the learning meaningful.

Taken from a level 4 learning log at Greenwich University.

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“the library seminar was really interesting as we learnt how to find journals and articles which would also help me in my ELS seminar on assisted suicide”

What do we do at Greenwich?• Library seminars embedded in courses for all

Undergraduate levels:– Level 4: Legal Skills*, Criminal Law * and Civil

Liberties– Level 5: Land Law ** and EU Law *– Level 6: Family Law **, Competition Law** and

Human Rights ***• Librarian is part of the programme team, and included

in:– Staff email list, reviews, programme meetings,

away days, staff/student meetings.

* Include assessments designed by librarian,** Support research assessments designed by academic staff. *** With Lexis trainer

Legal Skills: Journals (Level 4)

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Land Law: Research Coursework (Level 5)

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Learning Outcomes On completion of this coursework you will have: 1. Researched a specific area of law that has not been directly covered in lectures using a variety of paper and electronic sources; 2. Applied your research to a long problem question on that area of law; 3. Demonstrated your ability to provide succinct, coherent advice on a legal problem that you have researched; 4. Consolidated your understanding of rights over land; 5. Completed an assessment preparation record.

Family Law: Research Coursework (Level 6)

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Critically analyse the basis on which the law confers the legal status of parenthood in situations where there are a number of possible mothers and/or fathers.

Learning Outcomes:Students will have:• Demonstrated effective legal research into a complex area of law.• Explained clearly the legal principles involved in this area of law.• Engaged in a critical analysis of the relevant statues and legal

judgments.• Engaged in the academic debate on the legal attribution of parenthood.• Reflected upon the original data collected.• Presented a clear and coherent argument with logical progression of

ideas.• Shown evidence of good communication skills including the use of clear

and coherent written style and the good use of English language, particularly spelling, grammar and syntax.

• Referenced work correctly and included a full bibliography.

Context: SLS/BIALL SurveysA Question on Legal Research Skills Question is included every other year. The 2010/11 survey shows that at the institutions responding:

• Law library staff were involved in providing legal research skills in 98%,

• Academic staff were involved in training in 62%,• Law library staff alone provided instruction in 12%,• It was a joint responsibility in 60%.

• Legal research was incorporated in the curriculum in 87%.

• Students receive a mean of 5.4 hours of instruction over the course of study (6 at UoG).

• Librarians spend a mean of 37 hours delivering research training (44 hours at Greenwich in 2012-13).

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SLS/BIALL Surveys available on Legal Information Management, on Westlaw, also on the BIALL website (member access only).

Skills v Content/Knowledge

See comments from LETR page 45 Rebecca Huxley –Binns (2011): What is the Q for? The Law Teacher, 45:3 at page 305 11

There is no time for skills teaching. The curriculum is already full.

Wishy Washy

“Knowledge is static without skill and there is no skill without knowledge. The two are linked and mutually supportive.”

Debate is moot

There is not always a right answer

See Mary-Rose Russell (2011): Reflections on learning:students’ insights on their learning in a legal research skills course on the core curriculum, The Law Teacher 45:1 45 - 62

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“Before I thought it was like picking grapes in a vineyard. Just go to place X, get W, Y and Z. Move to A then B then finish up.”

“My early perception was that at the end of the law degree I would be a fully educated lawyer, however I now appreciate that legal education is an ongoing process.”

Workshop

• 7th April 2014• University of Greenwich • A practical hands-on workshop

designed to share good practice and develop some recommendations on assessing research skills

• Booking via HEA website

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Thank you for listening

l.b.yeatman@gre.ac.uks.j.crofts@gre.ac.uk