Interdisciplinary teaching

Leicester Instituteof Legal Practice

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Inter-disciplinary learningfor the work-based student

Current trends• Post graduate distance learning emphasis• Growth in number of part time and work based students• Increasing diverse student community, including international• Widening participation obligations• Growing concern from students about economic benefits of

HE ( HEA 2009)• Financial climate• 75% of 2020 workforce is over 16 years of age• Post graduate review (expected Spring 2010) A. Smith• FE experiences (Changing Learner Experience (2009))

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

Intellectual Property

• The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property 2006

• Intellectual Property for Engineers project (Roach and Soetendorp (2008))

• EIPO toolkit at www.eipo.org/patents/learning/teaching.html

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

Higher Ambitions?• Business to be more active

partners• HEFCE ‘s priority to strategic

skills i.e. STEM subjects• New Research Excellence

Framework (REF) to explicitly assess the impact of research on the economy and society. Speech

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

Learner Trends

• Flexibility/Feels like a work environment*• Significant social use of Web 2.0 tools**• Digital divides**:

– haves/have nots;– Acceptors/detractors

• Deficit in information literacy***DMU Student research 2009**Changing Learner Experience (2009)

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

Learner Expectations?

• General satisfaction with ICT provision and considerable support for use due to time and space flexibility

• Technology useful for administration and as a repository but Web 2.0 usage remains mainly social

• Analytical use limited

Great Expectations of ICT (2008) Ipsos Mori/JISC

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

Inter-disciplinary teaching strategy

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

•Case study•Kolb Experiential Learning

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

• Research findings:– Online lectures– Wiki

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

Inter-disciplinary teaching tools

• Building blocks:– Practical– Minimal statute– Creation– Exploitation– Valuation

• Tasks: advice to colleague, design brief to consultant, stages in a project plan.

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

Discussion

• In your institution or subject area, is inter-disciplinary learning:– Pedagogically valid– Achievable in a faculty structure?

• If it is achievable, what issues do you foresee in designing materials?

• How does this strategy co-ordinate with the Higher Ambitions strategy?

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice

References• Great Expectations (2008) Ipsos/Mori/Jisc

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/greatexpectations.aspx

• Higher Ambitions (2009) http://www.bis.gov.uk• Kolb, D.A. (1984) Experiential Learning .Prentice-Hall.London.• Postgraduate review (2010) http://www.bis.gov.uk/postgraduate-

review• Changing Learner Experience (2009) Report of the Committee of

Inquiry http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/heweb2.aspx

• Roach,J.and Soetendorp,R. (2008) IP in the engineering syllabus HEA

Leicester Institute of Legal Practice