Encouraging Reflection on Skills Development Across the LLB degree

TY - CONF

T1 - Encouraging Reflection on Skills Development Across the LLB degree

AU - Evans, Yvonne

AU - King, Sarah

A2 - Smith, Julie

A2 - Duke-Williams, Emma

A2 - Holme, Richard

A2 - Srinivasan, Sundar

A2 - Spark, Gordon

A2 - Martindale, Linda

A2 - Kinnear, Susan

N1 - © 2025 The Author.

PY - 2025/10/6

Y1 - 2025/10/6

N2 - We led on a project to respond to NSS by improving student's reflection on feedback, and improving skills recognition. We introduced group advising sessions, a coursework coversheet and integrated reflective assessment elements into the curriculum. We have disseminated our work at the Association of Law Teachers Conference and Scottish Property Law Discussion Group. Feedback from Careers Service highlighted a need to support students’ skill recognition. Our students can struggle to identify their graduate skills. When asked in job interviews, they rarely give examples from their academic studies. We piloted group advising with 1st years in 2023/24, giving staff timetabled sessions with their advisees once a semester for directed discussion around study skills and skills recognition. In 2024/25 we expanded group sessions to all years and created more tasks around progressive development of skills across the LLB. The second strand involved re-designing assessment coversheets so students identify skills they have used during the particular assessment. Integrating reflective elements into modules at various levels ensures engagement in reflection and recognition of key graduate skills throughout the student journey. These interventions aim to increase students’ sense of autonomy, competence and relatedness, which research suggests should positively impact on student wellbeing. Challenges have been student and staff engagement, and hesitancy about the likely effectiveness of the interventions. By surveying staff and students we have, however, found that the group advising sessions encouraged the majority of staff to reflect on and continue to improve their own practice. There have been clear benefits for students. It has also been intriguing to see what skills students think they have been developing (or not), e.g. many do not tick “communication” as a skill they used in an essay. The next stage of the project responds to the survey and focuses on skills literacy.

AB - We led on a project to respond to NSS by improving student's reflection on feedback, and improving skills recognition. We introduced group advising sessions, a coursework coversheet and integrated reflective assessment elements into the curriculum. We have disseminated our work at the Association of Law Teachers Conference and Scottish Property Law Discussion Group. Feedback from Careers Service highlighted a need to support students’ skill recognition. Our students can struggle to identify their graduate skills. When asked in job interviews, they rarely give examples from their academic studies. We piloted group advising with 1st years in 2023/24, giving staff timetabled sessions with their advisees once a semester for directed discussion around study skills and skills recognition. In 2024/25 we expanded group sessions to all years and created more tasks around progressive development of skills across the LLB. The second strand involved re-designing assessment coversheets so students identify skills they have used during the particular assessment. Integrating reflective elements into modules at various levels ensures engagement in reflection and recognition of key graduate skills throughout the student journey. These interventions aim to increase students’ sense of autonomy, competence and relatedness, which research suggests should positively impact on student wellbeing. Challenges have been student and staff engagement, and hesitancy about the likely effectiveness of the interventions. By surveying staff and students we have, however, found that the group advising sessions encouraged the majority of staff to reflect on and continue to improve their own practice. There have been clear benefits for students. It has also been intriguing to see what skills students think they have been developing (or not), e.g. many do not tick “communication” as a skill they used in an essay. The next stage of the project responds to the survey and focuses on skills literacy.

U2 - 10.20933/100001445

DO - 10.20933/100001445

M3 - Paper

T2 - University of Dundee Scholarship Conference 2025

Y2 - 2 September 2025 through 3 September 2025

ER -