Reflective Learning, Skills Development and Careers Management Online - An Evaluation of a First Year Law Module

This paper describes the development and implementation of a first year undergraduate law module which has been redesigned to enable the embedding of Personal Development Planning (PDP) within the curriculum. The module has been delivered through a combination of both face-to-face classroom and online activities using a virtual learning environment (VLE). The institutional background consists of two main elements. Firstly, recent policy changes now require that PDP for first year undergraduates is assessed either as an independent module or by being embedded within the existing curriculum. Secondly, both institutional and departmental policies promote the use of the VLE – a WebCT platform-for the delivery of all modules as part of a broader strategy to support more flexible, student-centred, learning. The paper identifies the pedagogic rationale for the approach adopted and demonstrates how the use of the VLE has enabled tutors to create an integrated framework for the delivery of skills training, the provision of learning resources, online formative and summative assessment tasks, interactive discussion forums for learning support, an administrative structure for tracking and supporting student progress and for students to compile a record of their achievement. Finally, the paper presents an evaluation, drawing on student feedback, tutor evaluation and evidence of student performance on completion of the first year of the new module. The paper is based on a presentation and paper that was first presented at the BILETA Conference in April 2006.