Educating Humpty Dumpty: Statutory interpretation in the first year of Australian law
Journal article
Curró, Gina and Longo, Michael. (2014). Educating Humpty Dumpty: Statutory interpretation in the first year of Australian law. The Law Teacher. 48(3), pp. 321 - 345. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2014.965953
Authors | Curró, Gina and Longo, Michael |
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Abstract | In the Australian legal environment today the overwhelming importance of laws made by Parliament is obvious, yet many first year law programmes pay insufficient attention to the coordinated teaching of statutory interpretation (SI). This project formed part of a collaborative initiative between an educational developer and the coordinator of legal research methods (LRM) to introduce statutory interpretation into a first year unit of study. Our study used a qualitative research framework – a questionnaire was administered to students at two intervals throughout the first semester. In Week 3, 160 students participated in the questionnaire and at Week 4, a keystone module on statutory interpretation using a building block approach was introduced in LRM. Since the nature of assessment in LRM is largely reflection, this unit lent itself well to investigating the language and literacy challenges of statutory interpretation, in particular, to students monitoring their own progress in this regard. The overall aim of the project was to establish a framework for students to build on their knowledge and understanding of statutory interpretation throughout their undergraduate studies, and in the interests of improved learning and teaching outcomes, for staff to be able to document the changes in student thinking. This paper focuses on the preliminary stage of our investigation into the language and literacy challenges involved in introducing statutory interpretation into a first year unit of study. |
Year | 2014 |
Journal | The Law Teacher |
Journal citation | 48 (3), pp. 321 - 345 |
Publisher | Routledge |
ISSN | 0306-9400 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2014.965953 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-84918498753 |
Page range | 321 - 345 |
Research Group | Thomas More Law School |
Publisher's version | File Access Level Controlled |
Place of publication | United Kingdom |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/85y4q/educating-humpty-dumpty-statutory-interpretation-in-the-first-year-of-australian-law
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