50 Years of Assessment in Legal Education – one day conference 29th January 2015

Legal History and Student Involvement in the

Assessment Process

Jonathan Bainbridge and Clare Sandford-Couch

Law School, Northumbria University

Assessment innovations

“the most powerful lever teachers have to influence the way students respond to courses and behave as learners” (Graham Gibb)

• Student involvement in setting their assessment• Student involvement in marking assessments

• Why should we do this?• Possible pitfalls?

The Legal History Module

• 15 credit half option module• open to students:– in years 3 and 4 of the exempting law degree,

whether they are training to be solicitors or barristers

– students in their final year of the three year LLB Hons degree

• module currently capped at 24 students

The Legal History Module• subject areas can change each year• module taught in a mix of lectures and 2 hour

seminars• assessed by combination of written coursework

assignment of 2500 words and oral presentation

• written coursework assignment carries 70% of the total mark for the module; oral presentation carries 30% of the mark for the module

Student involvement in setting their assessment

• students select from an indicative list of broad subject areas

• each student must choose a different subject area

• students agree a limited time period of history in consultation with the module tutors

• students then devise their own coursework question

Why should we do this?

• each student can develop a personalised response to their study of Legal History and their chosen subject area

• LETR: “It was widely recognized that legal research skills were not sufficiently acquired by the end of the academic stage” (page 44)

• “general transferable skills”: skills of analysis, synthesis, report writing, time management, self-monitoring, and goal setting

Student involvement in peer assessment

• assessment of the module involves first an oral presentation by each student on their chosen subject area

• presentation carries 30% of the mark for the course

• this comprises a mark accounting for 15% of the total module mark assessed by the module tutors and 15% of the total module mark assessed by the other students

Why should we do this?

• student as an active ‘doer’• helps to install autonomy in learners • interactive classes• many believe that academic study is enhanced

by the active development of skills and competencies

• transparency in assessment

peer assessment - possible pitfalls?• doubts about the validity and reliability of peer assessment

• student dislike of innovation

• student concerns about peer assessment

• friends marking each others’ work

• inconsistent/arbitrary marking

• the role of the tutor

“The success of peer-assessment schemes depends greatly on how the process is set-up and subsequently managed”

’

• keeping everyone in the picture; • a simple assessment system; • negotiating assessment criteria with classes in advance; • having a moderation system by tutors; • allowing plenty of time in peer-assessment sessions;

and • some form of feedback to students to confirm that peer

marks are valid and similar to that of the tutors But also• a complaints or review process

Any questions?

Jonathan Bainbridge and Clare Sandford-CouchLaw School, Northumbria University