Parallel Session 1 - Session D
Integrating a Personal and Professional Development e-Portfolio into the LLB Law Programme Dr Matthew Gibson and Dr Ed Horowicz, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool
This presentation will explain the rationale, development and implementation of a Personal and Professional Development e-Portfolio (PPDP) into the LLB Law curriculum at the University of Liverpool.
The PPDP was designed by both of us (LLB years 1 and 2 – Horowicz; LLB year 3 – Gibson) and inculcates reflective development by requiring students regularly to evaluate skills, values, challenges, performance and career plans. As part of this, and more broadly, it also asks students to consider their transition into higher education and, subsequently, their development of Liverpool’s graduate attributes, thereby meeting the needs of the labour market. Our presentation explains the genesis of the PPDP and how it was implemented across each year group. We also present evaluation data from students. Additionally, we highlight successes and areas for development in lineating the PPDP across year 3. Specifically, we discuss the shift to validating the year 3 PPDP as an activity visible on the Higher Education Achievement Record (whereas the year 1 and 2 PPDPs gain academic credit through undergraduate modules). Overall, this model of assessing skills and employability reframes how we, as academics in a Law School, can better empower students to take ownership of their personal and professional development needs. Employability Outcomes in Clinical Legal Education: What do Students Feel They Have Achieved by Participation in a Digital Criminal Justice Clinic? Emma Curryer, Head of Department and Law Lecturer and Carol Edwards, Assistant Head of Student Experience (Retention) and Senior Lecturer, The Open University The Open Justice Centre runs an in-house Criminal Justice Clinic where students research and advise on live criminal cases under direct supervision of a solicitor. Students carry out research and apply legal principles to determine whether there are any grounds for referral to the Criminal Cases Review Commission or for an appeal to be made. Given this will often be a student’s first experience of working in a criminal practitioner setting, it is important that the clinic supports the employability skills they need in a digital setting. As a result a small research project was undertaken over two years to establish whether students perceived that they obtained employability skills during their time in the clinic. This presentation will consider some of the main elements of running such a clinic digitally before considering the final results of the research project. It will end by giving some idea of how this fits within the degree programme and the opportunity it brings to students and staff alike as well as the biggest challenges. Whilst this presentation can only scratch the surface of these it can act as a discussion point about the use of digital legal education in the law curriculum going forward.
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