Enhancing the First Year Curriculum and Experience: Law School ‘Boot Camp’

Abstract

This article outlines and analyses the changes made to the First Year program at the Adelaide Law School to front load the teaching of legal skills. It identifies the particular challenges faced by first year law students in developing legal language and skills and outlines the curriculum changes which were adopted by the First Year teaching team to address these challenges. It reflects upon the responses to considerations of student diversity, course design, student engagement, and assessment design and provides an analysis of the success of the First Year ‘Boot Camp’.

Keywords: Legal education, first year experience, teaching, boot camp