From Traditional Lectures to Block Teaching in EU law: The

Student and Lecturer experienceCultivating Legal Education

UKCLE 23rd-24th January 2009Dr Clare Chambers

University of West of England, Bristol Law school

Aims of the paper

• Rational of changing from lectures to block sessions

• Embracing change within legal education

• Maps the practical experiences from student and lecturer

• Lessons to be learnt moving forwards

Rational

• Ethos of teaching and learning is changing

• More demands on lecturers times– research

• Move towards student directed learning

• Greater student numbers

• PGcert Academic Practice

Personal perceptions of legal education

• Deep learning

• Fun and dynamic manner

• Constrained by university and law society rubric on contact hours and assessment methods

Initial research

• Examined what students liked and disliked about traditional lectures and seminars

• Lectures have been defined as – “a formal talk on a serious or specialised

subject given to a group of people, especially students” (Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary).

Students perception of lectures

• “an intellectual meeting with a large quantity of students to gain significant knowledge of a particular topic concerning each unit within the course”. (Chambers 2006)

Where does the learning take place?

• hypothesise that the lecture is a surface learning technique and the independent study, and perhaps seminars, is where deep learning actually occurs.

Lectures are not all that!

• lectures have the purpose and aim of disseminating information, they have been found to be “a poor way of stimulating thought and of changing attitudes”. (Huxham 2003 and Bligh 1998 pp.269-289) Laurillard (1993 pp108-109) also stated that lectures are an ineffective means of promoting student learning.

How to maximise law teaching especially with European law?

• Course content

• Timetabling

• Duration of the course

• Method and timing of assessment

• Need buy in from your academic colleagues, university, and external examiners

Block teaching

• Ran for 10 weeks

• 1 two hour session once a week

• Interactive session

• Broken down into segments of lecture and activities

• Reading and materials given a week in advance

• Zero tolerance for non preparation

What the students thought about block teaching initially

• “I was fairly apprehensive as I was used to just having lectures and seminars. However it was explained to me that it would be interactive and innovative so I was interested to see how it would work.”

• “I thought that two hour lectures would be quite tough and a lot to take in. I was worried that the 2 hour block would not be as beneficial as maybe having 2 separate hours spread out in the week.”

Students feelings toward block teaching after having gone through the course

• “The two hour sessions were great, it gave us the opportunity to really get into the topics we were discussing. It was a shame that it was later on in the day. I think that because it was a long session it would have been good to have been earlier.”

• “Very positive…a good overall result, and somehow felt more modern!”

Students feelings toward block teaching after having gone through the course

• “I enjoyed the teaching method and would not have changed it. Those who complained were those who did not attend”.

• “Unfortunately I felt as though it did not benefit me as much as having a lecture and a seminar”.

Comparing the traditional methods with block teaching

• “It’s difficult to compare the two as the methods are very different. Long sessions over a short period of time compared to short sessions over a long period? I would prefer the block teaching method. I think that if all subjects were in the block teaching method it may be a bit intense, but a variety between the subjects would be beneficial”.

• “I did better in EU than elsewhere so I would say that it worked better”.

Advantages of block teaching

• “The advantages were having some difference from ordinary teaching – having time within the lectures to work as groups and share ideas – having a break between the two hours – having quizzes and tests to keep you knowledge going. The revision lectures and seminars were brilliant however. These really helped me to focus my revision and consequently I did well in my exam”.

Advantages of block teaching

• “The advantages of block teaching is that you are learning everything at once rather than being taught something one week and then going over it in a seminar 2 weeks later when it is less fresh in your mind”. “Gives a lot more time to voice concerns/opinions/discuss issues”.

Disadvantages of block teaching

• “As there is a longer gap between the block sessions and the exams, some areas can be forgotten. Students have to be motivated to revise topics in their own time which was sometimes hard”.

How to make block teaching better

• “The sessions were good as they were interactive but when some students aren’t as committed as others this can cause distractions. Another option would be to have an exam at Christmas so there is not such a big gap between the end of the course and the exam”.

• “More pod casts / slide combinations”.

Summary of findings

• Students initially apprehensive about change of method

• Students like to have a different method of teaching other than the traditional methods

• Students concerned over concentration over two hours

• Students felt that the two hour session allowed for in-depth analysis of the material

Summary of findings

• Students liked the focus two hour revision sessions

• Students were concerned about the time elapsing from concluding the course to the examination

• Students liked the interactiveness of the class

• Students used the pod casts to aid learning

Summary of findings

• Students wanted more interactive activities

• Students felt block teaching was a good alternative to traditional methods if delivered appropriately

• Students wanted the timetable to take into account the other lessons around the block session.

Recommendations

• Timetabling to ensure no sessions follow on or precede the block session

• Manage students expectations when introducing the students to the new method

• Effective revisions sessions

• Exam close to the end of the teaching sessions

Recommendations

• Ensure the students have enough self managed tasks to do outside class to keep their interest

• Make sure the students know the method benefits them and not the lecturer only

• Ensure the tutor has time allowed for students to individually see them

European Law 2005-6 2006-7 2007-8

C/W 56.06 59.90 61.3

Exam 43.99 50.74 50.46

Unit (overall) 44.15 52.51 53.71