Presentation at the HEA-funded workshop 'Teaching research skills to Law Students: a workshop on best practice '. This event brought together university law teachers and law librarians to discuss legal information literacy and current best practice in teaching research skills on the LLB, the role of law librarians, how research skills are taught (including on-line methods), progression through the undergraduate curriculum, whether for credit or not, and collaborations between law librarians and academic staff. This presentation is part of a related blog post that provides an overview of the event: http://bit.ly/1bIvVhh For further details of the HEA's work on teaching research methods in the Social Sciences, please see: http://bit.ly/15go0mh

1. Teaching
Research Skills to
Law Students: a
case study from
Greenwich
Sarah Crofts and
Lucy Yeatman
5th February 2014

2. LETR
• “There was a strong consensus that legal
research skills are important and need to be
addressed at different stages in the training
process.”
And
• “It was widely recognised that legal research
skills were not sufficiently acquired by the end
of the academic stage.”
– See page 44
2

3. What’s wrong with
graduate research skills?
• They have learnt to use the wrong databases/can’t
use free or paper sources.
• They don’t realise that sometimes there is no answer.
3

4. What do they mean by research skills?
• LETR recommends adopting the BIALL Legal
Information Literacy Statement:
– Research skill 1 - Demonstrate an understanding
of the need for the thorough investigation of all
relevant factual and legal issues involved in a
research task
– Research skill 2 - Demonstrate the ability to
undertake systematic and comprehensive legal
research
– Research skill 3 - Demonstrate the ability to
analyse research findings effectively
– Research skill 4 - Demonstrate the ability to
present the results of research in an appropriate
and effective manner
• Available at
http://www.biall.org.uk/data/files/BIALL_Legal_Informat
ion_Literacy_Statement_July_2012.pdf
4

5. Why Embed?
Because students need to learn in context in
order to make the learning meaningful.
“the library seminar was really
interesting as we learnt how to
find journals and articles which
would also help me in my ELS
seminar on assisted suicide”
Taken from a level 4 learning log at Greenwich University.
5

6. What do we do at Greenwich?
• Library seminars embedded in courses for all
Undergraduate levels:
– Level 4: Legal Skills*, Criminal Law * and Civil
Liberties
– Level 5: Land Law ** and EU Law *
– Level 6: Family Law **, Competition Law** and
Human Rights ***
• Librarian is part of the programme team, and included
in:
– Staff email list, reviews, programme meetings,
away days, staff/student meetings.
* Include assessments designed by librarian,
** Support research assessments designed by
academic staff.
*** With Lexis trainer

7. Legal Skills: Journals (Level 4)
7

8. Land Law: Research Coursework
(Level 5)
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this coursework you will have:
1. Researched a specific area of law that has not
been directly covered in lectures using a variety of
paper and electronic sources;
2. Applied your research to a long problem question
on that area of law;
3. Demonstrated your ability to provide succinct,
coherent advice on a legal problem that you have
researched;
4. Consolidated your understanding of rights over
land;
5. Completed an assessment preparation record.
8

9. Family Law: Research
Coursework (Level 6)
Critically analyse the basis on which the law confers the legal status of
parenthood in situations where there are a number of possible mothers
and/or fathers.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will have:
• Demonstrated effective legal research into a complex area of law.
• Explained clearly the legal principles involved in this area of law.
• Engaged in a critical analysis of the relevant statues and legal
judgments.
• Engaged in the academic debate on the legal attribution of
parenthood.
• Reflected upon the original data collected.
• Presented a clear and coherent argument with logical progression of
ideas.
• Shown evidence of good communication skills including the use of
clear and coherent written style and the good use of English
language, particularly spelling, grammar and syntax.
• Referenced work correctly and included a full bibliography.
9

10. Context: SLS/BIALL Surveys
A Question on Legal Research Skills Question is included every
other year. The 2010/11 survey shows that at the institutions
responding:
• Law library staff were involved in providing legal research skills
in 98%,
• Academic staff were involved in training in 62%,
• Law library staff alone provided instruction in 12%,
• It was a joint responsibility in 60%.
• Legal research was incorporated in the curriculum in 87%.
• Students receive a mean of 5.4 hours of instruction over the
course of study (6 at UoG).
• Librarians spend a mean of 37 hours delivering research training
(44 hours at Greenwich in 2012-13).
SLS/BIALL Surveys available on Legal Information Management,
on Westlaw, also on the BIALL website (member access only).
10

11. Skills v Content/Knowledge
Wishy
Washy
Debate
is moot
There is no
time for
skills
teaching.
The
curriculum
is already
full.
See comments from LETR page 45
“Knowledge is
static without
skill and there is
no skill without
knowledge. The
two are linked
and mutually
supportive.”
Rebecca Huxley –Binns (2011): What
is the Q for? The Law Teacher, 45:3 at
11
page 305

12. There is not always a right answer
“Before I thought it was like picking
grapes in a vineyard. Just go to place X,
get W, Y and Z. Move to A then B then
finish up.”
“My early perception was that at the
end of the law degree I would be a fully
educated lawyer, however I now
appreciate that legal education is an
ongoing process.”
See Mary-Rose Russell (2011): Reflections on learning:students’
insights on their learning in a legal research skills course on the
core curriculum, The Law Teacher 45:1 45 - 62
12

13. Workshop
• 7th April 2014
• University of Greenwich
• A practical hands-on workshop
designed to share good practice
and develop some
recommendations on assessing
research skills
• Booking via HEA website
13

14. Thank you for
listening
l.b.yeatman@gre.ac.uk
s.j.crofts@gre.ac.uk