Article # 4
Not a Moot Point ! Mooting as an Authentic Assessment Practice in Law ?
Title :
Not a Moot Point ! Mooting as an Authentic Assessment Practice in Law ?
Authors :
Dr Emma Allen School of Law , Keele University
Keywords :
Authentic Assessment ; Curriculum Design ; Law ; Mooting
DOI :
Abstract
Authentic assessment , understood as a form of assessment in which students demonstrate the applicability of the skills and concepts they have learned in a real-world context , is increasingly prized in an instrumentalist higher education environment that views university as a training ground for the workplace ( Armitage et al ., 2016 ). While traditional assessment practice in law typically involves an applied aspect , it would be judged as lying at the lower end of the ‘ continuum of authenticity ’ ( Mueller , 2006 ). In this highlight , I therefore propose the adoption of mooting not only as a more authentic , but also effective and efficient assessment practice . I consider how far mooting fulfils the essential characteristics of an authentic assessment ( Ashford-Rowe , Herrington and Brown , 2014 ) and stands to offer a more inclusive and engaging learning experience for students . This approach to assessment could be adapted to suit various law modules both within and beyond Keele .
Context
Authentic assessment , understood as a form of assessment in which students demonstrate the applicability of the skills and concepts they have learned in a real-world context , is increasingly prized in an instrumentalist higher education environment . This is an environment that views the university first and foremost as a training ground for the workplace rather than in more ideal terms as somewhere simply to extend students ’ powers and possibilities as human beings ( Armitage et al ., 2016 ). Authentic assessment tasks are also prized by students . In a study completed by Riva et al . ( 2020 ) on student wellbeing in the university teaching and learning environment , it was found that a student-focused assessment strategy where students perceive that their future aspirations are taken into account in the assessments ’ design has a positive effect on their wellbeing . While traditional assessment practice in law does typically involve an applied aspect , requiring students to apply the legal principles and rules they have learned to a fictitious scenario generated by the teacher , this would be judged as lying at the lower end of the ‘ continuum of authenticity ’ ( Mueller , 2006 ). In this highlight , I therefore propose the adoption of mooting not only as a more authentic , but also effective and efficient assessment practice by which I mean that it is not , in its most basic form , any more intensive in terms of resources and staff / student time than other forms of assessment ( Gillespie , 2009 ). While discussed in more detail below , in essence , the
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