AustLII Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback

James Cook University Law Review

James Cook Univeristy Law Review (JCULR)
You are here:  AustLII >> Databases >> James Cook University Law Review >> 2006 >> [2006] JCULawRw 4

Database Search | Name Search | Recent Articles | Noteup | LawCite | Author Info | Download | Help

Tarrant, John --- "Teaching Time-savvy Law Students" [2006] JCULawRw 4; (2006) 13 James Cook University Law Review 64


TEACHING TIME-SAVVY LAW STUDENTS

JOHN TARRANT[?]

ABSTRACT

As law students find themselves time poor, increasingly they are reacting by becoming time savvy. They make rational decisions about how they will spend their time and are spending more time in paid employment. As law teachers, it is critical that we be aware of changing patterns of student engagement and that our teaching approach influences student engagement in their studies. There are two areas where we can make the most impact in changing student engagement: changes to face to face teaching and the use of appropriate assessment.

I. INTRODUCTION

Universities have changed significantly over the past two decades. Government funding has changed; students now pay fees and institutions that were previously technical colleges have become universities through changed government policies. As a result universities provide a much broader scope of courses. These changes have coincided with changing patterns of student behaviour. Student engagement with their university has fundamentally changed. Many students now see university study as part of a broader lifestyle which includes significant paid employment.

These changes mean that law students are much more time poor and as a result they tend to develop a time savvy approach to their studies. Students make calculated decisions about how they will incorporate their study commitments into their other commitments. Many students spend several days a week in paid employment and decide not to attend campus on those days. Accordingly, their engagement with their university is tailored to integrate their work and other activities. This changing pattern of student engagement has significant implications for teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how academics might approach teaching time savvy law students to maximise student learning while at the same time accommodating some student demands. This is not to suggest that changing practices by academics is the only possible response to the issue of changing student engagement. Additional responses would be increased government funding to enable students to devote more time to their studies and less time to paid employment and changes at the institutional level, for example, a decision to increase funding to improve student/teacher ratios. Although other responses could be appropriate, the purpose of this paper is to examine the responses that could be undertaken by academic staff. While the focus of the paper is on law students, many of the observations and suggestions for change might be relevant to other disciplines.

It is impossible to discuss student engagement without considering the broader context of a changing society and changes to the university sector. These changes include the rise of economic rationalism, introduction of university fees, and changes in the knowledge economy, all which influence the way students engage in their studies. The knowledge economy reflects a change in economic activity focused on goods and services to an economy where a significant amount of activity is focused on ‘producing and distributing ideas and information’.[1] Drucker argued in 1969 that the United States economy had started to change into a knowledge economy during the 1950s and 1960s.[2] That process has continued, arguably at a faster pace, into the 21st century.

The paper is divided into three parts. Part one considers the current university environment. The focus is on the changed environment and how it has altered the overall landscape of university teaching. Part two then examines the changed pattern of student engagement. Finally, part three looks at specific approaches to teaching that can assist (and manipulate) time savvy law students.

II. THE CURRENT UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT

During the 1980s the definition of university changed in Australia. A unified national system of tertiary institutions was created by collapsing universities, colleges of advanced education and institutes of technology into amalgamated institutions. This amalgamation coincided with the rise of economic rationalism. From the late 1970s reforms were introduced into many economies, including Australia’s economy, designed to increase efficiency, reduce wasted expenditure, streamline the public sector and thereby move ‘some of the coordination functions of nation-societies away from states and bureaucracies to economies and markets’.[3] These reforms became known as economic rationalism. These developments resulted in the merging of education policy into economic policy. Government economic policy included education reforms specifically designed to make universities more responsive to the needs of industry and commerce.[4] As a result we no longer have traditional universities; we now have a ‘higher education system’.[5] The process that dominated thinking in the 1980s in Australia continues to dominate government policy. Education is seen as crucial to Australia’s future economic growth. A new generation of lifelong learners is told that they need policies that focus ‘on choices which enable a fulfilling and challenging working life’.[6] We are told that it is ‘absolutely critical’ that our education system becomes more responsive ‘to economic needs’.[7]

These changes to the university environment include two implications relevant to law students. First, the modern higher education system can lead law students to see themselves as primarily at university to prepare themselves for the workforce rather than to receive a broad educational experience. Secondly, because students are generally paying some form of fees, they are more likely to see themselves as consumers of university services.[8] In this way universities are seen as providers of educational services.

A. THE AIM OF EDUCATION

Education is clearly an important aspect of economic development but there is more to education than economic benefits; indeed there must surely be more to life than economics. As Marginson observes, now education is seen as a branch of economic policy rather than a mix of social, economic and cultural policy.[9] Bélanger and Tuijnman note that lifelong learning is promoted by governments as a strategy for meeting economic policy objectives.[10] This has the effect that education is seen as part of the economic process. The focus of education becomes training for the workforce rather than on a liberal education which is focused on the ‘continuing, ever-critical search for truth’.[11] The benefits of a liberal education include the promotion of ‘individual freedom and fulfilment as well as social responsibility’.[12]

One of the most significant changes as a result of the reforms has been a dramatic shift in what is taught at universities. There has been a significant decrease in the teaching of history, philosophy and the core sciences[13] while more vocational courses such as biological sciences have increased. There has been a corresponding shift in research effort.[14] Universities are no longer concerned with the life of the mind but instead have become subject to ‘managerial newspeak’.[15] The place of universities in our society is now unclear.[16] That is, as universities become more integrated into the economic process, universities must consider whether they are primarily institutions of learning and research or a key part of the economic process. These are fundamental changes particularly relevant to law because for many law is a vocational degree. However, personal observations suggest that not all law students intend to practice law so there are clearly many students who are studying law for other reasons. Many students study double degree programs and may pursue careers in accounting or finance where a law degree may be perceived as an advantage to their career prospects. In any event, for all law students, there is clearly scope for law to achieve its vocational aims while at the same time providing a broad educational experience.

A further related impact of the changes is the role of knowledge in society and in universities. The emergence of the knowledge economy has led to the rediscovery of the economic importance of higher education. The emphasis has shifted from the advancement of knowledge to the exploitation of knowledge. Students who attend university with a vocational approach to learning may seek to engage in the acquisition of knowledge so that they can graduate from university ready to exploit knowledge. On this approach there is likely to be less interest in the advancement of knowledge.

B. STUDENTS AS CONSUMERS OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

One of the most significant changes to higher education was the introduction of university fees. The payment of fees is consistent with the idea that members of society invest in their own human capital.[17] That is, individuals are seen as investing in their own productive capacity.[18] Those who invest in their own human capital in this way have views on the quality of the product they are purchasing and how it should be delivered. If students are buying an education and see themselves as consumers, they are more likely to make demands about how, what and why they are taught. These demands might not coincide with the ideals held by the teachers of these students.

Conflict can also occur because students and governments have an outcomes-based approach to teaching and learning. In an environment where students are considered consumers of education, and education is part of economic policy, it can be tempting for students to see learning as the acquisition of knowledge; not the critical analysis of knowledge and ideas. This can cause conflict between students and teachers because students may have an agenda dominated by the idea of acquiring the maximum amount of knowledge with the minimum amount of effort. By contrast teachers may have an agenda designed to encourage students to analyse the material in a way that is inconsistent with the knowledge acquisition approach. For example, the teacher might be encouraging an independent approach to learning while the students are adopting a dependent approach to learning. That is, the students might expect that material will be presented to them in a summarised form, or that they will be provided with all relevant materials, instead of adopting an approach where they independently research the material in a particular area.

This knowledge acquisition approach is more difficult to overcome in the discipline of law because of the amount of legal material available. Legal judgments have become more numerous and there has been an increase in the number of law journals. Much of this material is available online. Most students have access to cases and journal articles from a number of international jurisdictions. This vast volume of material increases the risk that legal education is seen as content driven. The sheer volume of the material can leave little time for detailed analysis unless teachers are proactive in limiting the content of their units.

Students also have access to an array of books designed to summarise the mass of legal material in a format ready for use in examinations. Many law units are taught by reference to textbooks and casebooks. Textbooks provide an excellent comprehensive coverage of the material for that particular unit but as Keyes and Johnstone observe textbooks are written in a treatise style that do not engage the reader in any activity apart from reading.[19] Casebooks are well designed books that provide extracts from key cases. The problem is that a busy law student will rarely get beyond the textbook for each law unit let alone a casebook and beyond. They will not have the time, and rarely the appropriate assessment, to explore beyond the textbook. With an emphasis on end of year examinations, students are attracted to books that summarise the material covered in their course. These books are a valuable introduction to a subject because they give a brief overview of the material in a particular course. They can also be valuable for revision. The risk is that some time poor students will gravitate towards these books and use them as a primary source of learning which would be detrimental to the learning process. A study of student use of summary books might throw more light on how these books are used and how they impact on student learning. For current purposes, it is sufficient to note that there is a risk that they could be detrimental to student learning if used as a primary source of learning rather than as part of a broader range of learning material such as casebooks, textbooks and cases.

III. STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND STUDENT CULTURE

A recent study in the United States identified an important change in the values of university students.[20] In a study of the change in values of students between 1966 and 1996, Astin noted the difference given to the importance of two contrasting values, developing a meaningful philosophy of life versus being well-off financially. In the late 1960s developing a meaningful philosophy of life was the top value amongst first year students. It was endorsed as essential or very important by more than 80 percent of students. By contrast, the value of being well-off financially ranked fifth or sixth with less than 45 percent endorsing it as a very important or as an essential goal in life. The interesting aspect of Astin’s research is that by the late 1990s these values had changed places. By 1996 being well-off financially was the top value at 74 percent and developing a meaningful philosophy of life had fallen to sixth place at only 42 percent. He notes that the change started in the early 1970s with the two contrasting values receiving the same rating in 1977 and reached their new point of divergence in the late 1980s. The positions have remained relatively constant since then.[21] This suggests a somewhat permanent change in values in around three decades. It is perhaps no coincidence that these changing values occurred simultaneously with the rise of economic rationalism and mass consumerism. This reflects a significant change in society’s values that have directly impacted in student values and expectations from a university education. Not surprisingly these changes are likely to impact on the way students engage at their universities.

These changes in values have also coincided with a change in the way students engaged with their university. Students have not disengaged from university; rather students are changing the way in which they engage with their university. This might mean that many students spend less time on campus but it does not mean that they are disengaging from their studies. It is important to appreciate that the issue is not one of finding ways of reversing student disengagement. The focus should be on understanding changing patterns of engagement so that teaching and learning can be developed in the context of these changed patterns.

One of the consequences of changing values is that students are focused on integrating their study in other activities and priorities in their life. McInnis suggests that universities have only adjusted to this changing pattern of student behaviour in an ad hoc way.[22] But given the significance of the changes, and the apparently permanent shift in values, a more coordinated response is likely to be required. The importance placed on the value of being well-off financially is almost certainly a factor in influencing students to engage in significant paid employment while they are full-time university students. The introduction of university fees is also no doubt a significant factor.

A recent survey conducted by the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee examined Australian university student finances.[23] The survey was undertaken in Semester Two 2006 and included 18,954 responses.[24] The survey found that on average full-time undergraduate students were working 14.8 hours per week.[25] The report noted that a large proportion of students felt that their work commitments ‘had a significant detrimental effect on their studies and limited their opportunities to benefit from the full university experience’.[26] The report also noted that since a similar study was conducted in 2000 ‘the 2006 patterns of work indicate a deterioration in the educational experience of students brought about by work commitments’.[27] The survey provides some timely information on the level of paid employment undertaken by students. It also highlights the fact that students themselves are aware that paid employment has a detrimental effect on their studies. Despite this, students are forced to persist with paid employment to earn the necessary income to meet their expenses.

It is also important to recognise that changing student behaviour is not irrational. Students are making a conscious choice as to how they devote their time. McInnis and Hartley note a number of strategies adopted by students as part of this changing culture.[28] Many students aim to attend only about 80 percent of their classes and choose units that fit in with their work commitments.[29] Students often attend classes early in the semester to obtain handouts, and an introduction to the unit, and then reduce class attendance.[30] Students also reduce class attendance when assignments are due. The authors note that none of these strategies are new but their interviews indicated that these patterns of behaviour have been increasing in recent years.[31] Students will assess the value of attending class from their experience when they do attend. If they perceive a need to miss a number of classes due to other activities, they are likely to choose to miss classes that they perceive to have less value and continue to attend classes they perceive to have higher value.

McInnis and Hartley’s interviews revealed that many academics had observed a changing culture amongst students.[32] They refer to widespread agreement amongst academics that the sense of community spirit that existed on campus in the past is diminishing. There is clear evidence that for many students their main social life is no longer on campus but off campus.[33] McInnis and Hartley identified that 70 percent of students agreed that their main social life was off campus and 57 percent of students indicated that they did not spend much time on campus other than to attend classes.[34] These statistics demonstrate a choice by students to engage in other activities and not to see themselves primarily as ‘university students’. They may identify with their part-time, or full-time, occupation. Their role as a university student is not necessarily their major activity even if they are enrolled as a full-time student.

One of the consequences of these changes is the increasing isolation of students.[35] Students who elect to miss classes and access material while working on their own have to make sense of it the best they can. This can flow on to assessment tasks as well if they receive little feedback on their assessment. The challenge is to find ways of integrating students with their teachers and their universities.[36] This needs to be achieved through strategies that integrate teaching and learning.

The implications of changing patterns of student engagement and how universities should respond have been explored by McInnis.[37] He observes that students generally know what they want from attending university and are ‘fairly clear about what they expect university to do for them’.[38] He observes that changing student behaviour has a daily effect for academics in declining numbers in classrooms and requests for special arrangements because of paid work commitments.[39] McInnis is concerned that the undergraduate experience is changing by default because universities are not demonstrating sufficient leadership.[40] That is a critical observation because it reflects a difficulty faced by universities and individual academics; how much should student demands be accommodated? There is scope for individual teachers to be innovative in how they respond to these changes in relation to their own teaching. There are also broader university-wide policy issues to be considered. The focus of part three of this paper is on the role of individual teachers to change how they teach. But it must be noted that change by individual teachers can be restricted by university-wide policies and by resource constraints.

IV. ASSISTING TIME-SAVVY LAW STUDENTS

Many changes can be made to respond to evolving student values and to directly assist time-savvy law students. Teaching methods can be modified. Classroom time can be reduced if it is replaced by assessment that requires independent research and writing. Law units could be delivered with less reliance on increasingly lengthy textbooks and casebooks and directed towards specific readings designed to provide deeper understanding of materials. It is important to acknowledge that individual academics do not always have the complete freedom to make radical changes to teaching practice. Different institutions have policies on issues such as the minimum amount of face-to-face teaching and the use of class recordings. Therefore existing institutional constraints may limit the types of changes that individuals can be make.

A. CHANGING HOW WE TEACH

Experience suggests that students will attempt to enrol in classes so that their contact hours are limited to only certain days, perhaps only three days per week, thus freeing up the remaining days for paid work or other activities. If they cannot achieve this, students may be inclined to miss classes on days where they have only a single class scheduled. Clear and rational choices are made as to how to use limited time. A single class of 45 minutes is a poor use of time if it involves significant travel time to and from the university. A 45 minute class might require the devotion of two or more hours of time. Not surprisingly many students will opt to listen to a recording of such a class, if available, or request that such classes be recorded.

One way of addressing this issue of disengagement from some classes is to reduce the amount of face to face teaching but increase the impact of the classes conducted. This could be achieved by making a decision that some less complex material will not be taught in class at all. Such material could be the subject of a compulsory assignment to ensure that students do cover the material. Pre-recorded lectures could be made available online for this material as well. Face to face classes could then be better directed to more complex material and provide an incentive for higher attendance.

Another observation of student behaviour is that class attendance tends to fall during periods when assignments are due. This is consistent with the study conducted by McInnis and Hartley.[41] They interviewed students and observed that the most frequently mentioned effect of paid work by students was its effect on their approach to study. Students mentioned ‘not having enough time to do in-depth work, doing limited reading or only the minimum reading required, scrambling to finish assignments on time, missing classes and focusing mainly on assessment tasks and assignments’.[42] Again class schedules could be altered to respond to this pattern of student behaviour. That is not to suggest that timetables can be organised so as to provide all students with a time-efficient schedule of classes. It may be more appropriate to reorganise how an entire semester is structured. Rather than a typical 14 week semester comprising teaching for a period of 13 weeks with a one week non-teaching break, a semester could be altered to include two separate breaks. The teaching schedule could be tailored to incorporate more continuous assessment. For example, three teaching weeks could be replaced with three additional weeks devoted to assignments. Having assignments due at the end of the non-teaching periods eliminates the problem of low class attendance during assignment time. This allocation of time also provides for more continuous assessment with less emphasis on final examinations. It also provides an incentive for students to attend the classes that are held. It is more likely that students will recognise that the more difficult material will be covered during face to face classes and that it is in their interests to attend class. Face to face teaching has a critical role to play and it should be used to its maximum effect.

Overall a change to the structure of the semester as advocated above can assist time poor law students. Students would be able to focus on class attendance and the relevant reading during the teaching part of the semester while focusing solely on assignments during the non-teaching part of the semester. Rather than a time poor student choosing between attending class or completing an assignment, at most times students would be able to devote the time that they have set aside for study to the relevant activity intended to be undertaken during that week. That activity would be either class attendance, and the related reading, or assignments. But importantly both activities would generally not be conducted at the same time.

The introduction of limited offerings of intensive units could also form part of an overall response to the changing environment. Keyes and Johnstone note that the demand for intensives is often driven by a desire of students to accelerate their progress through their degree.[43] It could also reflect a desire by students to reduce the workload during the regular semesters when they are under the most time pressure. Intensives have the attraction of providing a very efficient use of time for law students. It is therefore not surprising that demand for intensives is increasing.

However, not all subjects will be appropriate for teaching as intensives. Care would need to be taken to select subjects that lend themselves to this mode of teaching. If a subject contains a vast amount of material and it is intended that students will review much of that material then an intensive mode of teaching may not be appropriate. For example, if classes are designed to provide a forum for discussing issues then an intensive is probably not appropriate. But if the classes are primarily designed to introduce material to students so that they can then independently reflect further on the issues before completing appropriate assignments, then an intensive mode might be more appropriate. This would particularly be the case where it is expected that students will engage in independent research perhaps with the aim of writing a short research paper. In such cases the initial classes may be designed primarily to provide an introduction to the material and highlight issues of current interest that might make appropriate research topics.

B. USE OF TECHNOLOGY

The use of technology provides a significant opportunity to assist time-savvy law students. The most commonly used technologies in law schools are the recording of some lectures and the use of online materials that can be accessed off campus. These developments can be seen as driven by the availability of new technology, the reduction of funding to universities and student demand. The use of these technologies has clear benefits. The availability of materials online provides easy access to students of cases, journal articles and book extracts. The ability to access these materials off campus is clearly a huge advantage and enables students to study from home or other places off-campus.

The issue of recording lectures however raises important issues in relation to teaching and learning. Students who miss the occasional class will no doubt find the recording of lectures to be valuable. The risk is that some students will simply elect to listen to most, or all, of the lectures from the recordings rather than attend class at all. Rather than digest the material on a week by week basis this approach might result in students listening to an entire semester of lectures in a few weeks, or less, at the end of the semester. Students who then find that they have difficulty in understanding some of the material are then faced with significant time constraints to overcome those difficulties. One way to avoid these problems might be to make recordings available for only a short time after the actual lecture, perhaps only a week or two. This would encourage students to listen to the lectures during the semester rather than attempt to cover the entire course at the end of the semester. Recordings could be made available for longer periods to specific students if, for example, medical reasons prevented them from accessing the recordings during the available periods.

C. USE OF APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT

Assessments methods are an important area where changes can be made to improve learning and in assisting time-savvy law students. Ramsden argues that ‘much assessment in higher education is flawed’.[44] He observes that ‘assessment is fundamentally about helping students to learn and teachers to learn about how best to teach them’.[45] Ramsden makes the important point that we need to abandon the idea that teaching, learning and assessment exist in some form of linear sequence where assessment is the last step of the process.[46] A shift from end of semester examinations to continuous assessment provides a significant opportunity to influence student learning. This should lead to deeper learning strategies. In this way assessment can be used ‘to encourage interest, commitment and intellectual challenge’.[47] It can also be used to ‘enhance independence and responsibility’.[48] Ramsden also makes the critical point that if students see assessment as only a means of obtaining a particular grade rather than a method of learning and understanding it is ‘an optimal recipe for surface approaches’.[49]

Ramsden’s views on assessment are consistent with a recent Australian report on assessment in universities.[50] The report makes some interesting observations on assessment methods in Australian universities. First, there is a strong culture of testing and an emphasis on the final exam. Secondly, assessment is a central element in the overall quality of teaching and learning in higher education. Thirdly, academics often start with outcomes and then design activities to achieve those outcomes whereas students often start with identifying what assessment tasks are required. Finally, students express a strong preference for choice in the nature and weighting of assessment.[51]

It is clear that students focus a lot of their energy around assessment tasks. If they perceive that material will not be assessed they may show little interest in it. There are signs of movement away from a focus on end of semester examinations. For example, the University of New South Wales law school has moved to continuous assessment rather than a reliance on end of semester exams.[52] They also encourage their staff to utilise a diversity of assessment modes.[53] This is consistent with Ramsden’s view that providing a variety of assessment tasks tends ‘to encourage greater responsibility for self-direction in learning’.[54]

An advantage of using continuous assessment is that it provides an opportunity to use a variety of assessment techniques. It is more difficult to use a variety of assessment techniques if assessment is focused on examinations. The main advantage of using continuous assessment is that assessment becomes part of teaching and not an addition to teaching and becomes something done by students rather than something done to them.[55] Essentially assessment should be a learning experience rather than a method of testing what students know. Continuous assessment also provides the opportunity for more feedback to students. As Keyes and Johnstone have argued we should maximise the opportunities for students to receive constructive feedback.[56]

Continuous assessment enables students to spread their study efforts more evenly over the semester. Overall more effort might be required to meet all of the assessment tasks but understanding is likely to be enhanced if learning is undertaken on a continual basis. The requirement to devote more time on a continual basis during the semester might encourage students to engage in less paid employment, if their individual financial circumstances allow, and thus spend more time engaged in their law studies. In this way the use of continuous assessment is designed to force students to devote more time to their studies. Students who are too time poor to be able to do this might be forced to reduce their overall study load and take longer to complete their degree. Such a change in student behaviour might be very desirable and restore a more realistic work and study balance.

However, a change to more continuous assessment raises an important issue of staff workload. Arguably, staff workloads should not be increased simply to assist time poor law students. While that is true each institution is likely to have policies and objectives concerning student engagement. If a particular institution or law school wishes to increase student engagement then appropriate resources will need to be made available. If resources are increased, primarily through the provision of increased staff numbers, then existing staff workloads can be maintained while implementing a continuous assessment policy.

D. LEARNING TO TEACH

Another activity that academics can engage in that will assist their students is to obtain formal qualifications in education. The traditional view that university teachers do not require formal qualifications in education still prevails.[57] One consequence of this is that law teachers might be inclined to continue traditional approaches to teaching.[58] However, if law teachers are to play an active role in maximising student learning, and respond appropriately to the changing environment, they will benefit from engagement with the educational literature. Law teachers can benefit enormously from the experience of others and ensure that their teaching is compatible with modern student patterns of engagement. That is not to suggest that law teachers should simply meet the demands of students. But if law teachers are exposed to relevant educational literature they will be in a better position to identify which demands should be met and how they could best be addressed.

E. COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS

Legal academics can also bring about change by improved communication with students and the legal profession. New ideas need to be constantly developed to improve teaching. The implementation of new ideas will be enhanced if the ideas and changes are effectively communicated to students. Cowan advocates that academics should go into partnerships with their students. This involves telling students what you have in mind and what benefits there are for them.[59] There are clear advantages to effective communication. Change is ever present in society and there is often resistance to change. Those who are subjected to changes are more likely to be receptive if the benefits of the proposed changes are communicated to them. There is also a direct benefit for academics who introduce changes. If the proposed benefits are communicated to students then feedback can be obtained from students to determine whether the changes had the intended impact. Students are better placed to provide effective feedback on the impact of change if they already know what impact was anticipated.

V. CONCLUSION

The university landscape has clearly changed and this has coincided with significant changes in the way students engage with their university. It is critical that approaches to teaching reflect these fundamental shifts in universities. As students change the way they engage with face to face teaching we should critically assess how much face to face teaching we provide and whether it could be achieved in a more time efficient manner. When students choose to listen to recorded lectures rather than attend in person they are making a rational decision that suits their lifestyle.

In this changed environment it is critical that we use appropriate assessment methods that maximise student learning. Where appropriate, assessment should be designed to deliberately manipulate student behaviour. Assessment is a very useful way to ensure that students engage in their law studies on a regular basis. Continuous assessment provides a useful way to change student behaviour. This is not to suggest that any particular change in teaching will automatically have the desired effect in changing student behaviour. Ongoing studies of student behaviour would be necessary to determine the effect of changes to teaching practice.

Law students are becoming more time-savvy. As teachers we need to know our students and how they approach their studies. This knowledge is critical in determining how and what we teach. We have significant scope to directly influence the way we teach and influence the way our students learn.


*SJD, LLM, LLB (Hons), BSc (Grad), BCom, BA, GradDipEd, DipFinMangt, GradDiplTax, GradCertLawTchg. Senior Lecturer, Law School, University of Western Australia. An earlier draft of this paper was submitted as part of the requirements towards a Graduate Certificate in Law Teaching at Monash University. I would like to thank Len Webster and two anonymous referees for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. All errors remain my own.

[1] Peter Drucker, The Age of Discontinuity: Guidelines to our Changing Society (1969) 247.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Michael Pusey, Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation-Building State Changes its Mind (1991) 3.

[4] Bernd Hüppauf, ‘Universities and Postmodernism: The Green Paper and Some Responses’ in Simon Cooper, John Hinkson and Geoff Sharp (eds), Scholars and Entrepreneurs (2002) 11.

[5] Geoff Sharp, ‘The University and After?’ in Simon Cooper, John Hinkson and Geoff Sharp (eds), Scholars and Entrepreneurs (2002) 50.

[6] Brendan Nelson, ‘Underpinning Prosperity’ in Peter Dawkins and Michael Stutchbury (eds), Sustaining Prosperity (2005) 157.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Bruce Chapman, ‘Conceptual Issues and the Australian Experience with Income Contingent Charges for Higher Education’ (1997) 107 Economic Journal 738.

[9] Simon Marginson, Education and Public Policy in Australia (1993) 56.

[10] Paul Bélanger and Albert Tuijnman, ‘The “silent explosion” of Adult Learning’ in Paul Bélanger and Albert Tuijnman (eds), New Patterns of Adult Learning: A Six Country Comparative Study (1997) 7.

[11] Bruce Kimball, Orators & Philosophies: A History of the Idea of Liberal Education (1986) 11.

[12] Ibid 204.

[13] Stuart Macintyre, ‘Funny you should ask for that: Higher Education as a Market’ in Simon Cooper, John Hinkson and Geoff Sharp (eds), Scholars and Entrepreneurs (2002) 80.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Raimond Gaita, ‘The University: is it Finished?’ in Cooper, Hinkson and Sharp, above n 4, 92.

[16] Simon Cooper, ‘Post-Intellectuality? Universities and the Knowledge Industry’ in Simon Cooper, John Hinkson and Geoff Sharp (eds), Scholars and Entrepreneurs (2002) 207-210.

[17] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Education Policy Analysis (2002) 119.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Mary Keyes and Richard Johnstone, ‘Changing Legal Education: Rhetoric, Reality, and Prospects for the Future’ [2004] SydLawRw 26; (2004) 26 Sydney Law Review 537, 540.

[20] Alexander Astin, ‘The Changing American College Student: Thirty-Year Trends 1966-1996’ (1998) 21 The Review of Higher Education 115.

[21] Ibid 124-125.

[22] Craig McInnis, ‘Signs of Disengagement? The Changing Undergraduate Experience in Australian Universities’, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne (2001) 3.

[23] Richard James et al, ‘Australian University Student Finances 2006’, Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, February 2007.

[24] Ibid 1.

[25] Ibid 2.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Ibid 31.

[28] Craig McInnis and Robyn Hartley, Managing Study and Work (2002) 57.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Ibid.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid 51.

[33] Ibid 43.

[34] Ibid.

[35] Paul Ashwin, ‘Interpreting the Developments: Possible Futures for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education’ in Paul Ashwin (ed), Changing Higher Education (2006) 129.

[36] Ibid 130.

[37] McInnis, above n 22.

[38] Ibid 3.

[39] Ibid.

[40] Ibid 4.

[41] McInnis and Hartley, above n 28, 48.

[42] Ibid.

[43] Keyes and Johnstone, above n 19, 549.

[44] Paul Ramsden, Learning to Teach in Higher Education (2nd ed, 2006) 177.

[45] Ibid.

[46] Ibid 178.

[47] Ibid 180.

[48] Ibid.

[49] Ibid.

[50] Richard James, Craig McInnis and Marcia Devlin, Assessing Learning in Australian Universities (2002).

[51] Ibid 10.

[52] Leon Trakman, ‘Dean’s Message’ in Council of Australian Law Deans, Studying Law in Australia 2006 (2005) 68.

[53] Ibid.

[54] Ramsden, above n 44, 185.

[55] Ibid 178.

[56] Keyes and Johnstone, above n 19, 560.

[57] Ibid 555-556.

[58] Ibid 556.

[59] John Cowan, On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher (2nd ed, 2006) 150.


AustLII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback
URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/JCULawRw/2006/4.html