1. Using Blackboard to Provide a Form of Continuous Assessment for Law Students in a Large Group Setting – Potentials and Pitfalls Dr. Gavin Barrett, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University College Dublin

2. The Context of this Experiment/Process - The Degree Course, The Particular Subject The Context of this Experiment/Process - The Degree Course, The Particular Subject Rationale for the Process Rationale for the Process The Process Itself The Process Itself Evaluation of this Process: Lessons Learnt, Implications for Practice Evaluation of this Process: Lessons Learnt, Implications for Practice

3. Context of this Experiment I The Degree Course University College Dublin University College Dublin Law School Law School Bachelor of Business and Law (BBLS) Degree Bachelor of Business and Law (BBLS) Degree Students in second year of four year course Students in second year of four year course Arduous programme of study  intensified by University-wide introduction of modularisation and semesterisation of most subjects Arduous programme of study  intensified by University-wide introduction of modularisation and semesterisation of most subjects Increasing emphasis on continuous assessment  may be compulsory next year Increasing emphasis on continuous assessment  may be compulsory next year

4. Context of this Experiment II The Particular Subject: The Law of the European Union The Law of the European Union A compulsory subject for all Business and Law students A compulsory subject for all Business and Law students  150 students Very large and ‘difficult’ course Very large and ‘difficult’ course  unfamiliar concepts, institutions and approaches to legal reasoning especially for second-year students Disadvantages to using essay for continuous assessment Disadvantages to using essay for continuous assessment  many other essays to do  essay can cover only one part of the course.  essay correction on this scale very time-consuming

5. The Experiment and its Rationale The Experiment  In-class examination which would not count towards students’ grades this year Rationale  Useful formative exercise for this year’s students  ‘Test run’ for compulsory ongoing assessment for next year’s class – in which the results may count toward student grades. Rationale for Using Blackboard Rationale for Using Blackboard  All students have laptops.  Lecture theatres equipped with wireless technology.  Students familiar with Blackboard system because class page uses it.

6. Reflection on the Process Creation of test involved considerable investment of time Creation of test involved considerable investment of time Ample advance notice given of test to class that the test was to take place but that it would not count towards examination results. Ample advance notice given of test to class that the test was to take place but that it would not count towards examination results. Low turnout Low turnout Results of the assessment not particularly positive: clearly many students had done little real preparatory work. Results of the assessment not particularly positive: clearly many students had done little real preparatory work. Technical aspects: Technical aspects:  Most students had no problem accessing Blackboard…but it was hard to help those who did.  For two students technology failed.  The appearance of the test was peculiar  The test took less time than expected.

7. Evaluation of this Process: Lessons Learnt, Implications for Practice Valuable lessons learned: 1. Instant (permanent) results  enabling instant feedback to students 2. Blackboard feature helped ensure no cheating 3. Drafting a fair set of multiple-choice questions takes a long time 4. Recent training in Blackboard necessary to success of experiment…and was only just about sufficient.

8. Evaluation of this Process: Lessons Learnt, Implications for Practice (continued) 5. Both the classroom geography and the class size should facilitate the lecturer walking around the class in order to have to help students in difficulty and prevent cheating 6. Hard copy (paper) backup copies of the test are needed. 7. Imagination needed to ensure multiple-choice questionnaires test correct kinds of skill or knowledge. 8. Blackboard best confined to a formative rather than a summative assessment procedure in a large class. In a smaller class however, an eminently suitable summative technique

9. Thank you for listening. Questions are welcome.