Neal Geach, Sadie Whittam, Verona Ní Drisceoil and Jo Wilson
This blog post is the second of a two-part piece capturing thoughts and reflections from a recent online symposium on Authentic Assessment in Law: Critical and Practical Reflections.
In December 2023, the authors hosted an online symposium on authentic assessment in Law. In the first part of the symposium, we heard presentations from Dr Jan McArthur, Dr Joanna Tai, Professor Lydia Arnold and Dr Patrick Baughan (please see Part I of this blog). Part II of the symposium, and the focus of this blog, focused on practical considerations when embedding authentic learning and assessment into a law curriculum. Here, as with the approach taken in the first blog, we provide headline messages, insights and reflections shared via the case study examples and a how-to road show.
Case Study Examples
During the symposium, case studies of authentic assessment practice were presented covering a range of different module subjects (both core and optional), module sizes, levels of study, and authentic formats.
Jeanette Ashton, University of Sussex
Jeanette highlighted her assessments in an equity module of over 300 students. Building on a guest talk by a local charitable trustee, the context of the assessment was of a partner in a law firm sending a memo to their trainee regarding a new client who needed setting up as a charitable incorporated organisation. Students had to draft the clause setting out the client’s charitable purposes based on a range of information given in an email from the client. The client had also instructed the firm to write a report explaining the broader law on the public benefit of charities that would be used a training resource for the trustees of the charity which the students then wrote as a secondary part of the assessment. While the latter is similar to a traditional assessment that may be set on this area in terms of content, the change in context and form, challenged the students to distil their knowledge down and present it in a manner more accessible to a lay audience whilst not losing the depth of core legal knowledge.
Neal Geach, University of Hertfordshire
Neal discussed his assessment on making an application for an interim remedy in a mock trial set within the Law of Obligations. The assessment can be set in several subject areas within either Tort or Contract Law. The assessment model also works for a variety of interim remedies under r.25.1 of the Civil Procedure Rules. At the symposium, the focus was on an interim injunction set within a claim under the tort of nuisance which had been run in a second year Tort module of around 250 students. Students were given a set of witness statements and a draft order for an injunction. Students draft a skeleton argument setting out the law that governed the situation and their submissions as to why the injunction should be granted. They advance their submissions orally in a 10-minute mock hearing enabling their full range of communication skills to be assessed alongside their legal reasoning, and practical application. The grading criteria was weighted so their mark reflected where their strengths lay and not unduly influenced by one aspect of the assessment.
Patrick Goold, City University
Patrick discussed his assessment from his IP Law module which has around 350 students. It is a twist on the usual essay/problem question where the context was changed to add more authenticity. Students are set a problem scenario, but are instructed to write their answer in the style of a judicial opinion. This enabled an assessment of their theoretical understanding of the law and their reasoning skills, alongside their ability to apply it practically to a scenario. Like a judge, they had to reach an outcome rather that sit on the fence and merely present the contested nature of the issue and highlight the different options that could happen; as is usually the case in a problem scenario, even if set in the context of a solicitor giving advice to a client. The markers were thus looking for persuasive legal reasoning that led to a legally justified conclusion. Thus the change in context fuses the best aspects of the traditional essay and problem scenario into something more authentic.
Amanda Millmore, Reading University
Amanda’s assessment is set in a Family Law module which has up to 120 students registered on it each year. It consists of an evaluative report on running a mock child protection case. The module is split between a traditionally run first term building up the students’ knowledge of the law, and a second half focused on students running a mock case where they can apply their knowledge from the first term. Students from each seminar group are split into groups representing each of the parties in the case. The case runs over 8 weeks with authentic case papers released at different stages. At the end, students write a report consisting of 3 parts: an analysis of the law relating to their client and their negotiation strategy; a letter to the client explaining the outcome of the negation; and a reflection on their experiences of groupwork preparing for the negotiations, negotiating and implications for their future practice.
Ali Struthers, Warwick University
Set within a Human Rights Law module consisting of around 30 students, Ali discussed her reflective portfolio assignment. Students worked in groups throughout the year on one of two Human Rights themed projects. However, at the end they needed to produce an individual portfolio reflecting on three aspects of the project: its planning and delivery; the overall success of the project; and then a reflection on human rights more broadly in light of the project. This final part allowed for more traditional academic skills and knowledge to be assessed.
For more details on these assessments, including the findings and challenges experienced by each person running these assessments, as well as further examples of authentic assessments from wider range of people, please see the compendium compiled by Verona Ni Drisceoil for the Connecting Legal Education forum.
The ‘How To’ Roadshow and Top Tips
In this part of the symposium provided practical top tips for introducing authentic learning and assessment opportunities, alongside providing space for attendees to collaborate and work through queries related to authentic assessment.
It is clear that ‘authentic assessment’ is understood in very broad terms and means different things to different people. As noted by Arnold (2022), assessment could be deemed ‘authentic’ if it is relevant to future employment, relevant to the advancement of the discipline, relevant to our collective future and/or relevant to individual aspiration. However, the lack of a precise, agreeddefinition means we need a clear vision for what we want to achieve when we are discussing embedding authentic assessment in the curriculum.
The second part if the Roadshow explored 10 top tips for introducing authentic assessment:
1. Construct scenarios carefully. If you are using scenarios to help students contextualise their learning, ensure that the scenario is realistic (i.e. not merely ornamental) and helps situate student learning. When designing scenarios assessment, consider the purpose of the task – i.e. who would benefit from the student being able to demonstrate this knowledge (the students themselves, clients, employers, etc)?
2. Validate authentic assessments where possible. Draw on the experience of practitioners (e.g. solicitors or barristers who are also academics (‘pracademics’), non-pracademics who have built up experience implementing these assessments, or other industry experts) to validate whether case studies and tasks feel authentic.
3. Ensure that teaching aligns with assessment. For example, if you are introducing a presentation element in the assessment, the teaching on the module should support students to develop their oral communication skills.
4. Consider whether students will be given access to ‘expert performance’. For example, students could be givenexemplar documents created by a practitioner, or guest speakers might be invited to deliver talks. Exposing students to expert performance can enhance studentemployability by giving them a deeper insight into the professional world.
5. Scaffold authentic assessment. Authentic assessments may be unfamiliar (and therefore scary!) to students, and the assessment should be scaffolded throughout the course to allow for slow learning. For example, students may be given zero-credit (no risk) assessment practices andprovided with detailed formative feedback. Students shouldalso be actively engaged with the assessment criteria, so they understand what is needed to perform well in the assessment.
6. Seek the student view through anonymous feedback collection strategies. This is particularly important when introducing new forms of assessment as it provides invaluable information about what is and isn’t working. Share with students when their feedback has led to changes.
7. Be realistic about what can be achieved considering class size, time, resources, etc. There are many ‘light touch’ ways to move the dial towards ‘more authentic’ forms of assessment.
8. Take some risks. Introducing a new type of assessment might not work perfectly initially (e.g. there might be a slight dip in module evaluation scores). That’s OK. Share your practice so others can learn from your triumphs and lessons.
9. Consider assessment at a programme, rather than just a modular, level. If possible, get course convenors together and consider whether assessment and skill development is consistent and complementary across the programme.
10. Record/share/disseminate your practice. Sharing good ideas benefits students, other academics and you, as it develops a robust scholarship record.
Potential barriers to the introduction of authentic assessment and tips for overcoming these challenges
Introducing authentic assessment is not always an easy task. First, revising assessment methods or designing innovative new forms of assessment is often time and resource intensive. This can be problematic, as academics have many different commitments, reducing the time available to develop new teaching and assessment methodologies (Curcio, 2009). Therefore, when introducing authentic assessment, there needs to be realism regarding what can be achieved, considering practical factors such as time, resources, class size, timetabling and other constraints (Arnold, 2020). Initially, you can simply look at altering the context or format of an existing assignment, moving from an essay on a legal issue to e.g. an internal company report setting out their potential liability on an issue.
It is important to recognise that changes to assessment practices do not have to be radical to be good. There are different ‘light touch’ ways to meaningfully increase assessment authenticity. (See the discussion of Lydia Arnold’s ‘nudging practice covered in Part 1 of this blog). For example, students could be given realistic scenarios or be provided with a realistic timeframe to complete the assessment (e.g. through a take-home portfolio assessment).
Whatever, approach is taken one key point emphasised by all those presenting to overcome potential barriers was the need to communicate clearly with students and staff regarding what the assignment entails and why (students are not always clear of the relevance even if it may seem obvious to us).
Finally, there should be recognition at a school and/or institutional level that while introducing authentic assessments can contribute to positive student outcomes, they take time, and require resource and support to design, implement, and run. (Where implemented recognition should also follow, for example in promotion and award criteria or looking at overall workloads). This underlines again why communication is important so the resource may be forthcoming and others outside the module understand why different workload approaches may be being used. Ultimately, authentic assessments are not a panacea for all of the ills arising through traditional assessment, they can enhance the prospect student graduate employability and lower risks of assessment integrity issues (Geach and Henry (2021), both of which impact on OfS conditions of registration. Therefore, they do justify the investment.
Conclusions
There are challenges to implementing authentic assessments in legal education, but it can be easier than it may appear. There are also rewards to be had by implementing them. Amongst all of the advice given at the symposium, our key takeaway points be to simply try it, taking small steps initially if need be; think evolution rather than revolution. Work with your colleagues to bring them with you and ease any possible nerves they may have; and constantly communicate with students including regarding any formative, preparatory activities inserted within the curriculum. It is also worth remember that there is a great, supportive community of practice within legal education who will help and act as a sounding board. You will not be alone.
References
Arnold, L., 'Authentic Assessment: Cards to provoke discussion and reflection around authentic assessment approaches in higher and further education' (2022) < https://lydia-arnold.com/2022/11/14/expanded-assessment-top-trumps/>
Arnold, L., ‘Creating the Conditions for Authentic Assessment’(2020) < https://lydia-arnold.com/2020/02/10/creating-the-conditions-for-authentic-assessment/>
Curcio, A., ‘Assessing Differently and Using Empirical Studies to See if it Makes a Difference: Can Law Schools Do it Better?’ (2009) 27 Quinnipiac Law Review 899, 904.
Geach, N. and Henry, B. (2021) 'Authentic Assessments: enhancing employability, engagement and academic integrity? ', in Baughan, P. Assessment and Feedback in Law: Case Studies from the Sector, AdvanceHE 54-62
Ni Drisceoil, V. et al, A Compendium of Authentic Modes of Assessment in Law, Connecting Legal Education Forum (Live document)
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