Key Findings

The key findings from the project included:

• Data collected from students during three implementations of the Blackboard module in 2006-2008 indicated that they saw it as worthwhile to their development of learning how to interpret statutes. Over 60% of students from all 3 years stated that the module moderately to greatly enhanced their ability to interpret statutes and over 80% stated that it greatly supplemented the lectures and tutorials on statutory interpretation.
• The qualitative data from the students and the lecturer, identified that there were two main good teaching practices that were enacted through the module: creating opportunities for relevance and providing formative feedback.
• It was clear from students' and the lecturer's reflections about the module that a theme of relevance opportunities on three different levels emerged: the content was relevant to students' immediate experiences, the means of delivery was relevant to students, and all tasks were relevant to the bigger picture. While none of these opportunities were probably essential on their own, perhaps the presence of all three led to a greater possibility that a wider range of students would see this experience as having relevance to their studies and lives. By using a story and visual aids about issues relevant to students, there was enhanced potential for student interest and engagement.

Key Recommendations

The key recommendations from the project included:

Make the content relevant to students’ immediate experiences | By creating a storyline and providing visual aids about an environment and events that were relevant to students – student protests about rising fees at a university – the content of statutory interpretation, presumably, had more potential for their engagement and interest. This initial interest and familiarity can be a critical entry point for students' engagement and determine whether or not they continue with studying the topic.

Make the means of delivery relevant to students | Within the wired and technological world of tertiary students, the delivery of content could be an important relevance opportunity. The use of technology provides students with the opportunity to see the subject in a more relevant light. While not necessarily needing to make all academic content resemble the style of Facebook or text messaging, it is clear that students are looking for some connection points between their use of iPods, mobile phones, and social networking and their educational experiences.

Make all tasks relevant to the bigger picture | For students in an introductory course, the immediate bigger picture is the exam – students will focus on what is needed to meet the requirements of the assessment. Ideally, teachers can also demonstrate how tasks and skills are transferable beyond the assessment. In this case, that could be related to the more general skills of analysis, critical thinking, and reading comprehension that are being practised while doing statutory interpretation.

Provide students with multiple practise opportunities and “personal” feedback | By inviting students to use the module quizzes as often as they liked, students had multiple practise opportunities that were designed to improve their confidence and ability on the exam. The students receive personal instruction, on some level, that was as repetitive as needed. Another layer of technological sophistication in the form of recording the lecturer's oral feedback could potentially make the feedback that much more alive.

Guidance toward independent learning | The goal for university teachers is to guide students toward an ability to learn independently for the rest of their lives. For professional educators, there is a direct application aspect to this in that the knowledge and skills taught on a university campus are intended to be transferred to other settings. Thus, the goal for the law lecturer is not that students master the ability to interpret statutes for exam questions in this course only. The aim is that students leave the course with an internalised set of skills that they can use for further study in the Law and, presumably, in other settings. Thus, the module's ultimate purpose was to become obsolete for students once they had obtained a foundational understanding of how to interpret statutes.

Return on investment | Creating a resource like the statutory interpretation module requires a significant amount of time, energy, and technical and professional input. In order to make that initial investment into one particular teaching practice go further, there are several things to consider, including being able to use it repeatedly without major updates and revisions every year, potentially reaching a high number of students, and the probability that this practice helps to achieve the intended learning outcomes of the course. For the students in LAWS 101, it is clear that the investment is proving to be well worth the effort at increasing their engagement with statutory interpretation.