Integrating Legal Research Skills into the Curriculum and into Life

Abstract

Alison Pope explains how Staffordshire University Law School has redesigned its legal research module, with emphasis placed on information literacy and with careful timetabling to ensure the module is embedded in the curriculum.

New Barristers’ Information Literacy Challenges as They Transition from Education to the Workplace

“…As Bird examines, legal IL has become increasingly important (Bird, 2013) in legal education and to law librarians. Internationally (Kim-Prieto et al, 2014) and in the UK, the focus has been on law librarians’ roles in teaching IL, often looking at training provisions (Wakefield, 2007; Andretta, 2001; Davies and Jackson, 2005; Pope, 2009; Mawson, 2010; Davies, 2017). Pope unintentionally points towards the tension between academic IL standards and professional IL behaviour, when she highlights that the focus at universities is on preparing students to undertake project work (Pope et al, 2010) like dissertations.…”

How Can Law Librarians Most Effectively Provide Legal Research Training?

“…The majority of the literature available comes from law librarians working within the academic sector; this isn't particularly surprising, given that the overwhelming majority of journal articles of all disciplines, are generated by those working in universities. There are a range of papers which present different approaches to teaching legal research (Donaldson, 2010; Eaton, 2010; Pope, 2009; Sales, 2013; Simmonds, 2010; Wakefield, 2007; Wieland, 2010).…”

“…Pope (2009), set out an earlier approach to the same difficulties raised by Sales, in her explanation of how Staffordshire University Law School redesigned its legal research module. In creating a new Skills for Knowledge in Learning and Law (SKILLS), module, the concept of information literacy was made central, and explicitly assessed.…”

“…The majority of the literature available comes from law librarians working within the academic sector; this isn't particularly surprising, given that the overwhelming majority of journal articles of all disciplines, are generated by those working in universities. There are a range of papers which present different approaches to teaching legal research (Donaldson, 2010;Eaton, 2010;Pope, 2009;Sales, 2013;Simmonds, 2010;Wakefield, 2007;Wieland, 2010). Sales (2013), found that it was necessary to overhaul the delivery of legal research training at the University of Salford due to two problems, firstly, that the timetabling of the sessions in lecture rooms resulted in a passive audience experience; and secondly, that during practical sessions, students were following demonstrations of how to search "on automatic pilot", and were neither retaining the knowledge, nor transferring it to their own research.…”

“…In their web guide, 'How to flip a class', the University of Texas Center for Teaching and Learning (no date), identify the five key steps for successfully using this approach: firstly, identify where the flipped classroom model makes the most sense for your course; secondly, spend class time engaging students in application activities with feedback; thirdly, clarify connections between in class and outside of class learning; fourthly, adapt your materials for students to acquire course content in preparation of class; and finally, extend learning beyond class, through individual and collaborative practice. Pope (2009), set out an earlier approach to the same difficulties raised by Sales, in her explanation of how Staffordshire University Law School redesigned its legal research module. In creating a new Skills for Knowledge in Learning and Law (SKILLS), module, the concept of information literacy was made central, and explicitly assessed.…”