Using Assessment Practice to Evaluate the Legal Skills Curriculum

Abstract

A comprehensive audit of the skills curriculum offered to students in a Bachelor of Laws program yielded important insights about the collective impact of assessment tasks on the hidden and operational skills curriculum. This qualitative case study supports the views (1) that assessment tasks provide significant skills practice and performance opportunities for students; (2) that assessment provides students with important cues about what type of learning is valued; and (3) that review of assessment practices across the curriculum can provide important information for curricular reform.

Keywords: curriculum reform, assessment, legal skills, curriculum review, hidden curriculum, review of assessment practices, law school, legal education

JEL Classification: I2