Maria Angus, University of Hertfordshire

Streetlaw Takes legal information into the community Enhances employability Constitutes work-based learning Encourages learning communities Increases interaction between lecturers and students Necessitates independent research BUT do the law students involved actually learn any law? How can we tell?

The ‘Sample’ Volunteers, not selected From across the Law School All accepted Mixed ability, age, background

Learning through teaching Does Streetlaw only work as a learning tool for certain types of learner? Do strong positive or negative feelings about the project affect the depth of learning?

The Nature of Student Feedback Unfocussed without a questionnaire. Streetlaw perceived as a teaching rather than a learning experience. Self-reflective but not necessarily accurate. True?

Student Self-Reflection 70 students filled in questionnaires or gave filmed feedback Video feedback from female students lasted, on average, twice as long as that of male students and contained more and longer pauses for reflection All of those surveyed expressed experiencing positive emotions on completion of the project Students made realistic estimates of how much of the content of the presentation they would be able to recall

Analysis of Feedback 67 of the 70 students surveyed expressed the belief that the process of research, understanding, organisation and presentation enabled them to retain information longer than more passive learning. 68 of the 70 students expressed a wish to participate in further Streetlaw projects The level of engagement of individual students varied and, unsurprisingly, the greater the engagement, the deeper the learning.

Motivation Those who were motivated by a pre-existing interest in the subject matter and audience retained the most information Those who were motivated chiefly by a wish to use Streetlaw as an opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills retained slighty less but more than Those who wished simply to improve their CVs With 1 notable exception.

Conclusions No great surprises My students think they learn more when they are involved in and enjoying the learning process Motivation can influence learning This is probably due to greater engagement Students don’t always tell the truth

Questions, Group Work, Discussion