VIRTUAL LAW CASES

Pedagogical Ambassador 2021

Create virtual law cases

Virtual Law Cases is a pedagogical research project together with Cormac McGrath, Annelie Gunnerstad, and Åsa Örnberg where we explore ways to use digital tools in legal education and train students in legal method and legal decision making.

Train students in legal method

Virtual law cases allow the students to follow a real life example and apply legal methods to a concrete scenario which increases learning and application of legal rules.

Journal Article

Cormac McGrath, Annelie Gunnerstad, Åsa Örnberg, Christine Storr, Making the case for virtual law cases: introducing an innovative way to teach law, The Law Teacher, July 2020

Presentations

A list of presentations where we discussed the background and steps involved in building a virtual law case is available below.

1000

students have tried case

150

positive comments received

350

hours spent on building one case

10

people involved in building

Background

pedagogical advantages of virtual law cases

Concerns have been raised about whether law education prepares law students for the reality of their future work life: some research suggests that law students find it difficult to transfer and apply theoretical knowledge to decision-making in real-life contexts. The project tried a novel way, Virtual Law Cases (VLC), to teach and learn legal knowledge, analytical reasoning and decision-making skills in a safe environment without real-life repercussions.

Part of the project involved testing the necessary steps when developing a virtual law case and identifying the different elements that are included. It also encompassed a pilot testing with other colleagues, legal experts, as well as with law students. Early evidence suggests that colleagues and legal experts are confident that VLC is a valuable way to teach legal reasoning and decision-making, and that VLC offers students a tool that allows them to see how legal fields are interconnected.

Presentations

Conferences, seminars and workshops where one or more of the team members presented virtual law cases.

NU konferens

Virtuella fall inom juristutbildningen, 2020 🇸🇪

Lärarkonferens

Virtuella fall inom juristutbildningen, 2020 🇸🇪

Connecting Legal Education

Presentation on Making the case for virtual law cases: introducing an innovative way to teach law, 2020 🇬🇧

CeUL Workshop

Skapa virtuella case, 2020 🇸🇪