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Law > Academic literacy

1. What is the understanding that the School of Law has of academic literacy?

The understanding that the Law School has of academic literacy is best described as the development of intellectual and practical skills in students, applicable to a vast range of future professions.

Welcome to Undergraduate Studies at the University of Warwick: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/

The department’s understanding comes from its emphasis on developing skills in students rather than the absorption of information.

Teaching Approach: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/

The study of law at Warwick teaches analytical skills, the ability to organise a heavy workload with the appreciation of the way law operates within society. Students find that they are much in demand as the intellectual rigour of the degree, combined with their own abilities, adds to their attraction as recruits for a wide range of employers.

Undergraduate Prospectus (pg. 17): http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/admissions/prosp.pdf

This shows that the department’s understanding of AL emphasizes the development of practical and intellectual skills with an aim of enhancing the student’s employability.

 

a.) How are students conceptualized/ envisioned within this understanding?

The School of Law sees its students as inquisitive and intellectually curious by the descriptions on its website. It conceptualizes its students as eager to collaborate in education as a shared, collective enterprise, which involves learning between students as well as between students and staff. The department expects students to be committed to their education and to take legal study seriously.

Undergraduate Prospectus (pg. 6): http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/admissions/prosp.pdf

‘We are especially interested in applicants who seem prepared to question the effect that law has in society. We do not see ourselves as educating students who simply see a law degree as a necessary stepping stone to professional practice.’

 

Frequently Asked Questions: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/admissions/faq/#criteria

 

2. What does the School of Law define as its disciplinary skills?

The School of Law defines some of its disciplinary skills developed in undergraduates as skills including the ability to locate, understand and evaluate policy and theoretical literature; analysis of legal judgments and statutes; and communication skills (written and oral).

Teaching Approach: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/

Another key disciplinary skill the department describes is the ability to understand both legal doctrine (rules, principles, decisions etc.) and wider issues (government policy, legal theory, social implications etc.)

Undergraduate Prospectus (pg. 6): http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/admissions/prosp.pdf

 

The study of law at Warwick teaches analytical skills, the ability to organise a heavy workload with the appreciation of the way law operates within society.

Undergraduate Prospectus (pg. 17): http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/admissions/prosp.pdf

Legal studies at Warwick also claim to develop intellectual and practical skills applicable to a vast range of future professions.

Welcome to Undergraduate Studies at the University of Warwick: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/

a.) Does the School of Law define these skills as generic?

It is clear fro the above that the department defines the intellectual and practical skills developed as generic, by stating that they are applicable to a vast range of future professions.

Although it does not explicitly define the other skills as generic, some obviously are such as the communication skills (written and oral), analytical skills and the ability to organise a heavy workload.

 

b.) In what format is academic literacy claimed to be developed?

Most of the disciplinary skills are developed by continuous assessment methods including essays, research projects, dissertations, presentations, assessed seminars, multiple choice tests, computer-based tests, quizzes, class tests, problem drafting, opinion writing, statute summaries, case note writing, drafting of appeals, writing letters of advice, book reviews, library exercises, interviewing exercises.

Teaching Approach: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/

Academic literacy as the department understands it is also developed by mock trials and moots. A "moot" is an advocacy exercise set in a court of appeal in which the student "mooters" argue real points of law arising out of a hypothetical set of facts. Some students also develop and practice their legal skills in the community by giving free legal advice and (as part of one module) giving talks to local schoolchildren.

Teaching Approach: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/ug/prospective/