Dr Maureen Spencer's presentation on the benefits of Inquiry Based Learning (IBL)

1. ‘I came here to be taught law
by you…’
Jackie Finn
Maureen Spencer
School of Law

2. What is the answer?
“‘So what’s the answer? said Laura, a rather literal
minded girl who wrote down everything Robyn said
in tutorials. ‘Is it a train or a tram?’
‘Both or either’ said Robyn. ‘It doesn’t really matter.
Go on Marion’
‘Hang about’, said Vic. ‘You can’t have it both
ways’.
Nice Work, David Lodge (Secker and Warburg,
London 1988).

3. The Flute Game
Anne- only one who can play
Bob- only one who is so poor he has no toys
Carla- made the flute herself

4. Healthy disagreement
‘Disagreement does not necessarily have to
be overcome’. Bernard Williams
‘…rejection of the belief that questions of
value can have only one right answer’.
Amartya Sen

5. Designing learning and assessment
to challenge student conformity
Theories of learning and assessment in law- research based
teaching
Joined up assessment
Outcomes and conclusions

6. Inquiry based-learning
Driven by questions or problems
Based on seeking new knowledge and
understanding
Student-centred
Lecturer as facilitator

7. Pedagogic objectives
Metacognitive skills- learning how to learn
Research capabilities, ‘spirit of inquiry’,
‘intellectual curiosity’
Cognitive skills
Communication skills
Domain knowledge

8. IBL as vehicular not oracular
Label that works,
Marketing tool
OR
‘RBL reinvigorates student learning by imbuing it with
the excitement of research, of new discoveries and
new ways of thinking about problems. It can be a
political project which resists the de-politicisation of
neo-liberal strategies’. (Carr and Dearden p278)

9. DISCIPLINE FORMS OF
IBL TASKS
Scholarly
research
Simplified res,
literature and
discussion
based enquiry
Applied
research
Role playing.
Enactment of
practice
Pure-soft:
humanities, social
sciences.
20% 50% 7% 23%
Pure-hard:
science, maths
24% 64% 4% 8%
Applied- soft: law,
bus, education
6% 37% 22% 35%
Applied- hard:
engineering,
health sc, comp sc
5% 27% 29% 39%
TOTAL 11% 40% 18% 31%

10. Disrupt the status quo and provoke
critical thinking
Learning and assessment
Podcast introductory lectures, seminar tasks for
students to present orally and on a blog, online
textbook and resources
Oral and written assessment
Seen exam
‘Assessment must necessarily flow from and be
integrated with intended learning outcome’.p366
Wallace

11. LEARNING ASSESMENTS
FEEDBACK
Electronic
resources
Podcast
lectures
IBL
seminars
Blogs
Formative
assessment
MCQs
Seen
Exam
Summative
CW (2
attempts)
Vivas

12. http://readinglists.mdx.ac.uk/lists/0C1F1C6D-09BB-F163-EF6C-DC

14. Memory, law, unseen exams
• ‘the single confrontation of examinee with
exam question, the element of isolated and
unaided struggle- Jacob wrestling with the
mysterious Other ’. (Maharg, p219)
• ‘Memory has for long held a privileged
place in legal education’. (p222)

15. Viva
Dialogue, interaction, authenticity,
Spontaneous conversation not pre-prepared
oral presentation (Wallace p367)

16. Evi Stavrou.WAV

17. Seen exam
• Open book prior to exam but no materials in
exam
• Challenge to rote learning
• Learning happens not by recording
information but by interpreting it

18. Outcomes
• Participation- podcast, blog, online
resources
• Oral assessment
• Seen exam

19. Views of electronic resources
Students, T = 73
Sources, T = 143, c 15 per Weekly Unit
September 263
October 200
November 166
December 50
January 83
February 21
March 43
April 29
May 27
June 65

20. Podcasts- hits
• Unit 12 Hearsay podcast -97
• Unit 13 Character podcast -70

21. Revisions
Oral assessment and ‘impression management’
Problem of lack of anonymity; free-ranging
questions; different assessors
Podcasts as discussions with students or staff
Use blogs as sources for coursework
Assessment criteria; raising the bar
Question setting for seen exam

22. Memory, retention, learning,
thinking and assessment
• ‘…highly practised skill learning will be
durable when the test of retention
embodies the procedures employed during
acquisition’. (Healy and Bourne 1995)

23. References
• Aditomo A et al (2013) ‘Inquiry based learning in higher
education’ 38 Studies in Higher Education 9 p1239, Table
at1254 in Slide 9
• Carr H and Dearden N (2012) ‘Research-led teaching,
vehicular ideas and the Feminist Judgments Project’ 46
The Law Teacher 3 268
• Maharg P (1999) ‘The culture of mnemosyne’ 6 IJLP 2
219
• Wallace C(2010) ‘Using oral assessment in law’. 44 The
Law Teacher 3 p365