Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

This unit covers a range of work integrated learning (WIL) opportunities including domestic and international options. These enable you to experience the real world application and development of your legal knowledge and skills. This may include a range of roles in traditional legal environments and non-traditional community contexts such as refugee, environmental and public interest law agencies, international community organisations, international legal internships and street law settings. You will undertake legal tasks under supervision, with this unit affording you an authentic learning context in a challenging real world legal environment. Through this experience you should be better placed for a smooth transition to the workplace.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to provide you with a real world, work integrated learning experience through your supervised clinical experience in a legal workplace in the public, private or community sector domestically or overseas. Through this experience you should develop:

• Your lawyering skills such as law-related research, legal analysis, letter or submission drafting and dispute resolution.


• An understanding of the dynamic relationship between academic skills and knowledge and their practical application in a legal workplace.


• A capacity to effectively engage with a client, which will be developed through simulated role play, through a culminating professional presentation and through your clinical experience.


• An understanding of the law and ability to communicate this to diverse audiences and legal literacies.


• An ability to develop yourself as a legal practitioner through lifelong learning, reflection and career management.


• A sense of social justice, empathy and understanding about the social and ethical responsibilities of lawyers.


• An ability to analyse and critique the legal system and the role of lawyers.

Objectives

At the completion of this unit you should be able to:
1. Appraise the legal system and the role of lawyers. (GC6, GC7)
2. Appraise social, professional and ethical issues, analysing the professional and ethical responsibilities of a legal practitioner in a public, private or community legal context (GC6)
3. Evaluate and reflect on your application of discipline specific and professional knowledge and skills and implement personal learning strategies. (GC4, GC5)
4. Apply different kinds of legal knowledge and skills in authentic settings. (GC1, GC2, GC4)
5. Practice and reflect upon cross-cultural competence using collaborative strategies to cater for racial, indigenous, cultural and socio-economic difference. (GC5,GC6)

Graduate Capabilities
Your understanding of the unit content and development of these skills will assist you to acquire the following law graduate capabilities:
GC1. Discipline Knowledge;
GC2. Problem Solving, Reasoning and Research;
GC4. Life Long Learning;
GC5. Work Independently and Collaboratively;
GC6. Professional, Social and Ethical Responsibility; and
GC7. Characteristics of Self-Reliance and Leadership.

Content

The unit consists of the following components:

• Preparation for the clinical experience, including role play interview with client and other workshop activities with peer assessment


• Mandatory workshops, including a project showcase, to be attended by all enrolled students;


• Reflection upon your learning during and after the clinical experience, and


• Completion of the clinical experience.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

In order to achieve the learning objectives of the unit a range of teaching and learning approaches will be employed. These include:

Workshops and academic support

• Six two-hour workshops (weeks 1 to 5 and week 11)


• Online and face to face academic learning support in preparation for the clinical experience and the assessment of student learning


• Liaison between the unit coordinator and the clinical supervisor


• Individual consultation, both face to face and by email, between you and the unit coordinator


• Experiential learning and reflective practice


• Clinical supervisor's feedback


• Active learning in an ethos of the student assuming responsibility for his/her own learning


• Careers and Employment career modules

Study Guide
The Study Guide for the unit provides an outline of relevant content, prescribed readings and tutorial exercises for each week of semester.

Online Materials
Online learning and teaching resources which provide feedback on student learning are available via the Blackboard site for this unit.

External Attendance School
There is no external attendance school.

Assessment

In order to achieve a passing grade in this unit you must submit a satisfactory attempt at every assessment item described below.

Overview of Assessment:

Summative assessment will be based on your role play and workshop activities, reflective journal and presentation.

Faculty Assessment Information

To access the Law Faculty Assessment Information see the Blackboard site for this unit.You will receive feedback on the assessment items and learning activities in the unit through written comments on criteria sheets and individual contact with the unit coordinator by phone, email and during classes. In addition, placement supervisors will provide you with ongoing feedback throughout you placement including a written interim report and a written response on completion of your placement.

You should reflect upon the feedback on your assessment in this unit (both your individual and generic feedback as provided on Blackboard) for the purpose of identifying:

• gaps in your knowledge and understanding of the legal principles of private, public interest and community law;


• inadequacies in your problem solving methodology;


• strategies to improve your problem solving, oral and written communication skills in further assessment;


• areas for improvement for future studies within the LLB, including legal research strategies


• the connection between writing reflectively and your continued professional development as a lawyer.

Assessment name: Workshop Activities
Description: Your role play will be based on a scenario allocated to you by your instructor. It may relate to a job-seeking interview or an interview with a client in a community, private or public legal context and you will need to demonstrate effective professional communication and presentation strategies. These will be modelled and practised in class prior to the performance of your assessed role play. Since this role play is partially evaluated by peer assessment and moderated by the instructor, it is mandatory that you participate in peer assessment of the role plays of other students.
Relates to objectives: 1-5
Weight: 20%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: During Workshops

Assessment name: Project Presentation
Description: You will complete a project that relates to the learnings achieved during your clinical experience and that will be agreed by you, the unit coordinator and your clinical supervisor in your clinical agreement. You will present the project at a showcase which will be attended by fellow students, academics and work placement supervisors. Attendance at the project showcase is compulsory.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2 & 4
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 13

Assessment name: Reflective Journal
Description: The reflective journal requires you to critically reflect on your learning in your clinical experience. This demonstrates your understanding of the personal and professional challenges you have faced during the unit and in particular the clinical experience.
Relates to objectives: 1-5
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 14 (Swot Vac)

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

There is no set text for this unit. A study guide will be available for purchase through the QUT bookshop.

Blackboard site
Online materials for the unit are available on the unit blackboard site.

Poster preparation
To produce your poster electronically and print it there may be a cost associated with its printing.

Risk assessment statement

Whilst on placement you will be covered by QUT workers' compensation, public liability and professional indemnity insurance and you will have to familiarise yourself with the workplace health and safety rules of the particular placement.

You must familiarise yourself with the workplace health and safety rules of the particular placement. It is also important to view the QUT WIL Health and Safety PowerPoint, (Managing your rights, responsibilities and safety on placement) which will be shown to you in Week 1 of class and you will also need to undertake an induction in the relevant workplace. If your placement involves overseas travel it is also important that you become familiar with the protocols of QUT student travel, which are also explained in this resource.

You may have to sign a confidentiality agreement whereby you agree not to disclose any information learned in the course of the placement to any person outside the field placement office. You will need to understand matters of intellectual property, conflict of interest and insurance, which are also detailed in the Health and Safety resources.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 07-Nov-2012