Moving beyond text, embracing the visual: the Virtual Land Law Field Trip Project @ Sussex

Abstract

Set against the pedagogic literature outlining the benefits of the 'visual' in instruction, this article charts the conceptualisation, development and impact of the Virtual Land Law Field Trip Project @ Sussex. Drawing on the findings from a student survey and focus group evaluation, the article outlines the strengths and weakness of the project. Notwithstanding limitations, and indeed the inherent challenges and obstacles to incorporating 'innovative' approaches in teaching, the article concludes by strongly advocating for a greater commitment to moving beyond the dominance of text in legal education and embracing the visual where possible. Utilising more dynamic visual representations such as video enhances instruction, supports cognitive memory and is an excellent way to provide meaningful practical insight examples. Moreover, embracing visual representations offers an alternative space within which to include counter voices and narratives to challenge, where necessary, the curriculums we teach.

The Barcelona Conference on Education 2023: Official Conference Proceedings

“…In the first stage, several criteria were initially applied to exclude studies, including those less than three pages in length, not written in English, articles that are not related to RFTs and VFTs. After this stage of the screening, 37 articles ([1], [2], [3] [8], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [26], [27], [28], [29], [37], [39], [42], [44], [45], [49], [50], [51], [52], [55], [58], [59], [60], [61], [62], [63], [67], [68], [69]) were selected for full text assessment. The second stage of the screening process involved reading title, keywords, and abstract to identify studies that are relevant to RFTs and VFTs that had been peer reviewed in an educational context.…”

“…Through direct observation of the study area, RFTs assist individuals in understanding the relationship between inductive and deductive pathways of any knowledge, and between such knowledge's sensory and rational components [21]). Information and sources of knowledge are more often derived from seeing, hearing, and experiencing than from reading and, therefore, it is impossible to replicate all aspects of in-person field trips without going into the field (Holgersen,[28]; Schulze et al, [59]; Ní Drisceoil, [49]). It is also possible for students to be actively involved in planning their own learning experiences, so that they can develop memorable experiences during the three key moments of a field trip (before, during, and after activities) [21]).…”

“…In terms of age, 30 instructors were above 50 years old, 29 fell within the age range of [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]12 were aged between 30-39, and 3 were less than 30 years old. Regarding educational qualifications, 46 instructors held a Ph.D. degree, while 28 held a master's degree.…”