-: 1st TUTORIAL :-

ASSIGNMENT ON

RESEARCH METHODS AND LEGAL WRITING

Submitted to
Dr. SACHIN TRIPATHI
(Faculty of Research methods and legal writing)

Submitted by

Ekta Chandrakar
LLM Student
Semester – I, Batch 2020-21
PRN No. 200110441013

Submitted on:
16TH November, 2020

Symbiosis Law School | Nagpur

Mouza, Wathoda Layout, Nagpur, Maharashtra 440008
Q.No.1.

[a] Interpret the following statement: “Learning is more important than teaching”.
Imagine that you are a teacher and a student of yours “A” questions you about the efficacy
of student centric teaching methods and express his opinion that teacher centric methods
are more appropriate for learning.

Argue for your position explaining him the principles of student centric approach along
with its significance. Also express your opinion about the use of student centric methods in
legal education.

[b] What is learner centered pedagogy and subject centered pedagogy? Give examples
from courses in legal education as to where you will adopt learner centric pedagogy and
subject centered pedagogy.

ANSWER

A. "The great aim of education is not knowledge but action."

-Herbert Spencer.

Learning is a continuous and life long process. We everyday learn something new. Education is a
system of aiding or facilitating learning or acquiring knowledge, values, beliefs, skills, and
habits. And hence we can say that education is a system, teaching is an action and learning is a
process. Most of the people assume that teaching is most than learning and that is why we notice
that the educational institutions primarily are only concerned about the teaching and is not
bothered about as to what a student has actually learnt. But according to me, learning is most
important than teaching because it’s the end goal of teaching. If the students do not retain the
information and cannot easily recover the knowledge gathered for using it later on, then even the
best lecture is also of little value. And hence only the teaching styles and techniques can only
make a difference for enhancing the quality and quantity of learning by the students. This can
only be achieved if proper teaching pedagogy tools are adopted in teaching for making the
learning process more fruitful, beneficial and high yielding.
An appropriate learning style can enhance the academic performance of students. There is much
debate between teacher centered and student centered method of learning in the education system
as to which is the best. In teacher centered education, learners put all of their focus on the
teacher. It is an old traditional method, where most of the time is spent with the teacher lecturing,
while the students exclusively listen and are merely passive participants in the classroom.
Though in teacher-centered, the classroom remains orderly, students remain quiet, and one can
retain full control over the classroom and its activities. But this can be boring for students and
their communication skill may suffer drastically. Whereas, in student centered learning which is
also known as learner centered approach, shifts the focus of imparting instructions and activities
from the teacher to the student.

Learner-centered education has more significance and importance than teacher centered
approach because:

1. It uses interactive strategies to engage the students and develop their thinking and
critical abilities.
2. This approach helps students to develop skills such as decision making and problem
solving, team work, and presentation skills that are relevant to the current labor
needs of time.
3. In this, students “discover” the new information and come up with solutions instead
of passively waiting for the teacher to answer.
4. It attempts to give rise to active learning by using methods such as critical thinking
exercises, problem solving, cooperative learning, open ended assignments and
simulation.
5. Student’s individual responsibility and independence help to develop characteristics of
lifelong learners.
6. It gives motivation, self-evaluation, learns time management and skills to access
information.
7. This helps a student to understand and concentrate on what learners do, and why they
think they are doing it, rather than focusing on what the teacher does.
Law schools imparting legal education have obligations both to their students as well as to the
society to provide a learning environment that helps students to achieve the highest academic
standards and prepares them to assume their responsibilities as effectively as possible in real
world. In legal education too student centered approach should be adopted. This will help the law
students to adopt social roles which will eventually help them in legal practice as well in legal
academia. Rote learning cannot help a law student to fit in a legal world. A student of law
should be good in discussions and should be able to put up their points and this can be learnt
only by way of student centered approach which will involve cooperative learning, open ended
assignments, critical-thinking exercises, simulation, and problem-solving activities. Law students
themselves need to create their own understanding of the subject matter of legal education and
should cooperate with the teachers when some assignment is given instead of making remarks as
to why such burdensome exercises have been given to them. They should too be very
enthusiastic while taking up these exercises given by the teachers because it is only for their
development and will help them to solve the real life problems effectively and efficiently.

B. Pedagogy is defined simply as the method and practice of teaching. It compasses various
teaching styles. It is a recipe which includes teaching strategies, approaches, methods, models
etc. While teaching adopting effective and interesting pedagogy on a subject to subject basis is
important because it improves the quality of learning. All these pedagogy tools are divided in as
learner oriented or teacher oriented, sometimes also as purpose oriented.

LEARNER CENTRED PEDAGOGY shifts the focus of imparting instructions and activities
from the teacher to the student. In this, the classroom is not focused on the teacher for
transmission of knowledge but it’s the student who takes up the responsibility to engage
class either by working in pairs or in groups trying to complete an exercise, or helping each
other by asking each other questions. It helps students to develop characteristics of lifelong
learners by taking up individual responsibility and makes them independent.

SUBJECT CENTERED PEDAGOGY is the oldest, and perhaps the most obvious way to
organize curriculum. In every education system there’s a curriculum which indicates the
knowledge and skills, schools want their students to acquire. Every curriculum is structured
according to the subject, the needs of individual students, the values of the society at large and
the content itself. For example, in science, students learn about the scientific method and
science-related vocabulary which is then used when students conduct experiments and
investigations. In English, students are taught grammatical rules which they will use to produce
appropriate written products. The main aim of subject centered approach is to make a student
master in a particular subject and content. The focus is on the delivery of the subject contents by
the teacher for students to acquire importance on topics or concepts included in the subject,
around which all the teaching and learning activities revolve. It is a common practice which
strictly follows the syllabus and textbooks both for teaching and learning.

In legal education, if we take example of 1 st, 2nd and 3 rd year law students then according to
me first teacher centric method should be used to explain a particular topic of law and then
after having a long deliberations on a topic by the teacher, interactive strategies such as
cooperative learning, open ended assignments, critical-thinking exercises, simulation, and
problem-solving activities can be used by the teacher to engage the students and develop
their thinking and critical abilities. Whereas for 4 th, 5th year and LLM students of law,
since they have deeper understanding into the law, they can directly be engaged into
student centric approach as they will be able to deal with topic better as compared to junior
students. Subjects in which the students can perform in groups and can understand the
practical application of law for example, contract law, where there can be two parties and
an exercise can be done as to whether the all the essentials of valid contract is there or not,
in this student centered approach can be adopted for the junior students. Whereas for the
4th, 5th and LLM students, open ended assignments, critical-thinking exercises, simulation, and
problem-solving activities can be given to them so that they’ll be able to think beyond the
textbooks and will be able to solve complex applications of law in future.

Every curriculum in a legal education too is structured according to the subject. For example,
in environmental law, students learn about the regulatory regimes, environmental legal
principles and focus on the management of specific natural resources which is then used when
students conduct experiments and investigations so as to preserve and protect the environment.
So subject centered pedagogy can be adopted according to the subject where text book is the
only source and knowledge is gathered from the teacher. Stress is mainly given on the quantity
rather than quality.
Q.No.2. Write a comprehensive review of the article:

“G. S. Bajpai & Neha Kapur - Innovative Teaching Pedagogies in Law: A Critical
Analysis of Methods and Tools”: 2CLR2018 (91).

Law as a subject consists of various areas and it has always been taught with the help of theories,
principles, their practices and applications. The conventional method of teaching used in
imparting legal education comprises of theory, research and application but these things do not
fulfill the subject requirements. It is important to employ and engage in contemporary teachings
aids and techniques in legal education to enhance the teaching learning process. Also, a common
method of teaching cannot serve all the goals together and hence there is a need to diversify the
methods of teaching according to the subject, students and curriculum.

Teaching law as a subject these days have become a complex phenomenon, and hence a teacher
of law requires multidimensional approach and in depth knowledge of a particular law subject.
Along with this, the teacher needs to come up with a suitable pedagogy tool to teach a specific
topic to convey concepts, ideas and facts to students effectively and efficiently. It is equally
important that the teacher must know the kinds of research methods and their application in order
to collect, arrange and analyse relevant piece of knowledge and effectively use them in lecturing
thereon in the classroom. It is also important to consider the learning habits of students and then
adopt a teaching style which is suitable to them. Hence alternative teaching methods should be
adopted which motivates critical thinking, diverse opinion and logical argumentative skills in
law students. Law teachers should be committed to promote overall development of the students
as they budding lawyers who must possess sound knowledge and professional competence. They
during their course should be made ready to face the physical difficulties of being a lawyer.

The Lecture, Socratic methods, clinical legal exercises and experimental learning opportunities
have played an important role in the development of legal education in India, but now the time
demands to build some more new and innovative methods which can further lead to innovation
in legal education. But it is difficult to achieve the main objectives of legal education due to
fixed pedagogy which is used by the teachers because they themselves are not familiar with
various pedagogies. And hence proper teaching training is required to make teachers to think
beyond the traditional methods of teaching and to engage in multidimensional approach and new
methods for teaching and learning exercise of students.

If we look at current status of legal education in India then even today mostly traditional
methods of teaching is adopted by the teacher, in which the classroom teaching takes place
without the intended learning outcome and the teachers are only transferring knowledge without
ensuring learning of students. Law education in India focuses on theory of law and rote learning
rather than learning practical aspects of law and making a student to think a like a lawyer. This
becomes a problem due to absence of proper teaching pedagogy because teachers usually focus
on the contents and not the context of the subject. This can be improved if some innovative
methods are used to engage a class; so that the knowledge retained during class can be used in
future maintaining that it does not gets wasted. Along with this the law school should determine
what kind of lawyers it wants to produce and then specific pedagogical tools should be adopted
for teaching. Thus there is a pressing need to revise and rethink the whole curriculum, teaching
methods and students study method as a whole.

Innovative methods that can be adopted for effective and efficient learning includes case study
method, problem method, collaborative method, interactive method, seminar method, lecture
method, Socratic method, clinical method, field action project, outcome based learning method
and research methods.
 Case study method is a useful strategy and tool for helping the students to learn how to
analyze a case, indentify problems and solutions, compare alternate decisions and arrive
at a particular conclusion about a particular case. This will enable students to understand
legal principles on their own.
 Problem method of teaching is based on the philosophy that “knowledge used is better
remembered”. It is a teaching by the use of real world problem. In this, students may be
required to submit written answers to problems, prepare outline of answers, or merely
prepare to discuss the problems in the class. It will help to increase student responsibility
for self directed peer learning.
 Collaborative method involves grouping students to work towards a common academic
goal by participating in the learning process by interacting with each other and listening
 to each other’s point of view. Learning together in a group will help the students to
understand, retain and apply concepts.
 Interactive method is an experimental learning whereby law students gain practical skills
and during this process students are confronted with real life situations and play the role
of lawyers to solve problems either by interacting with clients or by resolving legal
issues.
 Seminar method is the most modern and advanced method of teaching. It is an
instructional technique which involves generating a situation for a group to have guided
interaction amongst themselves on a theme. It encourages students to take part in the
discussion and express their own points of view.
 Lecture method is highly criticized these days because of its boredom. But lectures too
can be made effective, participative, challenging as well as thought provoking. This
method of teaching is mostly used and distinct from other methods of teaching as it has
more advantages than others.
 Socratic method involves a sharing of dialogue between teachers and students. The
teacher leads by posing thought provoking questions. Students actively engage by asking
questions of their own. The discussion then goes back and forth.
 Clinical method of teaching also known as Clinical Legal Education. In this students are
confronted with the problems, they deal with the problem in role and are required to
interact with others in order to identify and solve the problem. By this law students are
trained and are refined for having such skills that is needed for demanding justice in the
society. This is taught by using methods such as role-playing, simulations, brainstorming,
highly interactive discussions, regular in-depth feedback, and direct client representation.
The students are also engaged in performing paralegal aid services, such as visiting jails,
registering marriages, births, and deaths, obtaining ration cards, and preparing affidavits
and doing court related exercises.
 Field action project can be used as a method where the law students can be associated
with the members of social group to conduct an inquiry on social issues whereby they can
suggest remedial measures to solve them.
  Outcome based learning method involves preparing predetermined course outcome or
curriculum goals. It rejects traditional focus and sets clear standards which are observable
and measurable.
 Research methods have been completely ignored in Indian legal education. It should be
used to systematically discover new facts and verify old facts so that this learning can
utilized for planning and pursuing legal and socio-legal research in future.
Hence, these innovative methods can be adopted for effective and efficient learning in legal
education. But the aim of implementing these methods can be achieved only if these methods can
be checked with a robust mechanism of an assessment model. Various assessment tools such as
client counseling, court room exercises, case comment/case briefs, panel discussion, essay
writing, mock trial, role playing exercises and movie screening can be used for assessing the
innovative methods.
There are also various tools that can be used apart from innovative methods and these are visual
tools, ICT, writing exercises and flip class technique. These innovative methods and various
other tools can too be combined for fruitful learning and more discussion on the subject and the
content.
Hence, it can be stated that no teaching method is perfect in itself and has its advantages and
disadvantages. One method cannot be taken for granted and cannot be said as perfect method for
teaching and learning. But still we can derive some common principles which these methods
and tools have. These are:
1. Teacher should explain goals and methods to students of a particular subject.
2. Appropriate teaching methods should be adopted according to level of students and
content and subject.
3. Multiple methods should be adopted for teaching and it should not be restricted to one
method.
4. Context based education should be adopted so that the students can store in their minds as
to what are they actually studying.
Thus, we can say that every teaching method is best in itself and can definitely make a difference
in teaching and learning exercise in some way or other. It’s just that only a systemized approach,
along with the well qualified teachers should be hired looking at the quality and quantity of
learning of students in a classroom for innovative teaching.
Q.No.3 By perusing the article on “Lecture Method” attached with this assignment,
critically examine the advantages and limitations of lecture methods and with an
illustration demonstrate how you will prepare a lecture on a topic of your choice.
What according to you is the important skill sets required for effective lecturing?

Every mankind is destined to enjoy a degree of knowledge and this need to be developed in each
and every individual through education. Education is the process of facilitating or acquiring
knowledge and it must show the ways and means of attaining that goal. The quality of education
depends upon the relationship between the contents, their teaching manner, and the instruments
used in imparting learning. A common complaint is made that the quality of education is
dwindling day by day due to lack of proper teaching methods. Though a lot of new and
innovative methods may have been introduced for enhancing teaching and learning but lecture
method is a method which is predominant from immemorial time and it is most traditional and
common method of teaching, which is also highly criticized. There is no doubt that some
teachers make effective use of the lecture method of teaching for imparting instruction and their
lectures are very well prepared but still at several places lectures consist merely of dictation of
notes.

The term “lecture” is derived from the French word lecture, meaning reading. It is an oral
presentation which is intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject
or content. In this, it is the primary role of teachers to pass knowledge and information onto their
students.

Lecture method play a very important and significant role in building thought process, therefore
it can be inferred that the aim of lecture method is to do something more than just transmitting
information or sharing knowledge. Main aim of Lecture method is:

(i) To introduce the subject thoroughly.

(ii) To facilitate an overview of the subject by identifying all the possible key areas.
(iii) To build a required approach to be adopted regarding the subject.
(iv) To encourage deep thinking and develop keen understanding in depth.
 (v) Motivating and creating interest in learners in order to initiate further discussion on
the subject.

Advantages of lecture method of teaching:

 Lecture method is useful to convey critical information, history, background, theories,

and equations in an effective way.
 The lecture method is convenient and especially with larger classroom sizes where
spread information in large group of receivers where person to person interaction is not
possible. Therefore, lecturing is compulsory standard for most college courses, where
several students in the classroom are addressed by professors through lecturing process.
 Lecture method is the most economic method of teaching because it does not require any
special tools for instruction. In this students are provided readymade knowledge by the
teacher.
 This method is very useful when limited number of periods is available to cover the
syllabus. Other innovative methods are time consuming but lecture method is not.
 In this method, students can interrupt the teachers for more clarification or more detail
on the topic which is being taught in the classroom.
 The lecture can even be taped, filmed, or printed for future use.
 Other teaching methods and demonstrations can easily be combined with the lecture.
 When there is less time for research or when there is no access to materials, then there
the lecture given by a teacher comes to a rescue.
 When the information on a particular topic is widely scattered at different places, then
also a lecture by a teacher is very useful.
 The lecture method of teaching gives a systemized overview of the subject.

Hence because of its various advantages, a majority of teachers use the lecture method
of teaching as it one of the efficient teaching methods for presenting many facts and
ideas in a relatively shorter time duration. It is an attractive and easy method of teaching.
Limitations of lecture method of teaching

Lecture method is very old and traditional method of teaching and therefore it has received
various disapprovals and criticisms in the education system. Education system has undergone
extensive reforms and hence it becomes difficult to follow such an old method in this modern
era. This method is not so effective because of the following reasons:

 All students cannot equally follow the lecture and concentrate for a longer duration.
 Teachers cannot pay attention to all the students in a class.
 It does not promote learning and discourages student activities.
 Most of the students don’t even take notes and are merely passive listeners because the
communication is mostly from the teacher.
 It encourages rote learning.
 Gives little scope to the students to enhance their critical thinking abilities.
 Desired learning outcome may not be achieved.
 It is not suitable for slow learners.
 The information gathered from the lecture may be forgotten easily and quickly if an
individual do not take notes and revise it regularly.
 There’s no checking or assessment done as to what knowledge has actually been gathered
from the lecture.
 Most of the teachers are also not trained for delivering an effective lecture.
 Sometimes even language act as barrier for understanding a lecture.

ILLUSTRATION:

If I’ll become an instructor of law students who are in 1st, 2nd, 3rd year then while introducing a
topic on a subject I’ll first give an outline of the topic as to what all things I’m going to discuss
in a particular period. Then I’ll ask them that whether they have any idea about this topic and
will take their opinion on it. Then I’ll start introducing the topic thoroughly to them, will also
ask some thought provoking questions to them in between to not make the lecture mundane
and boring. Will deal with live cases and examples and will also take their opinion on the
particular case or example. After this, at the end, will sum up the topic and will again revise as
to what all things was covered in a particular lecture and will give them some assignment on it.
Giving assignments to students daily can keep them engaged and they will surely revise the topic
taught. Will also ask them questions in the last as to what I have taught in the class. For all these
things, I’ll have to decide a time frame as to what all things I have to do in class today. Also will
not use lecture method of teaching daily and will engage them in other methods of teaching like
discussion method, case method, clinical methods and other methods depending upon the subject
and capability of students. A particular day like Friday can be assigned where these other
methods can be used, so that even the flow of lecture is not affected.

For 4th and 5th year students and also for LLM students, since they have acquired a more
knowledge than junior students and have also acquainted themselves with various internships.
They can be taught with other innovative methods. For example, they can be asked to read a
article provided by the teacher so that the next day when they come to class a fruitful discussion
can take place on the topic. And after discussion with the students, the teacher can actually began
to deal with the topic thoroughly. They can even be asked to teach the junior classes which will
eventually their speaking skills and they’ll not have stage fear. Audio visual aids can also be
shown to them in class and then they can be asked to keep forward as to what they have learnt
from watching the audio visual aids.

Important skill sets required for effective lecturing?

A Teacher,


Must be attentive throughout the class for gaining learner's attention throughout the lecture.

Should randomly ask questions to any students.

Should follow a systematic procedure while delivering a lecture.

Should design a teaching plan keeping in mind outcome of learning, qualities, interest and
limitations of learners.

Should resort to integrate different methods of teaching instead of one.

Should try to analyze the topic explained with examples and tactics to make the
environment pleasant, harmonious and aesthetic.

Should be very well versed with the topic and the subject.
Hence, no doubt the teacher plays an important in effective delivery of a topic but effectiveness
of lecture also completely depends on learners' attention, motivation and stimulating factors
which are to be engaged in learning.

Q.No.4 Compare and contrast between the Case Study Method, Problem Method and the
Discussion method of teaching with suitable illustrations. What criterion would you adopt
while selecting these pedagogical tools to teach a topic/concept?

Problem method of learning is a very different way of learning. It can be called as a teaching
and learning method which puts a problem first in which further learning is conducted in the
context of that problem. It usually takes a very different approach. It places the student at the
start of the process and it reverses the traditional transmissive approach to teaching. The
discussion and analysis of a problem starts with the process of learning, rather than acting as the
end point in the learning. The problem in this sets out a factual scenario that raises legal issues
which you have not yet studied. The key role of the problem is to stimulate your awareness that
these issues exist and create an interest in them by highlighting their real-world complex
situations. After this, the problem then gives you a context which you can use to find exactly
what you need to learn in order to understand the problem and address the issues which it has
raised.

Illustration: This problem method can be used in case of nuisance. An individual, who is dealing
with this problem method, can consider the basic law of nuisance and can also see as to what
happens when competing parties interests conflict. Also considering as to how the law of
nuisance works, what a statutory nuisance is and how anti-social behaviour is regulated. This
will stimulates one’s awareness about the topic and will stimulate further learning. This method
enables law teachers to develop a strategy which maximizes the benefits in promoting the skills
of transferring knowledge from one student to another and it leads to self-directed learning of
students.

The Case method is collaboration of critical legal thinking of students through his research with
relevant cases towards the solution of legal problem. In this, a student is expected to search for
the answer based on legal principles, logic and reasoning applied by the courts in their
judgments. Students are given some hypothetical problems which contain some clues and it is all
upon the student's potential to draw the inferences from those clues. The solution can be
achieved if he/she possesses prior knowledge about relevant legal principles and carefully studies
the relevant cases and if they can easily associate and recognize those clues and the connecting
link, and may form a provisional hypothesis judgment. There is a qualitative difference in the
knowledge acquired through this way. Learning through Case Method helps to develop critical
legal thinking, builds confidence and professional attitude under able guidance of the teacher.

The case study method can be used in any case for example Kesavananda Bharti case. In this one
can understand and analyze the facts in the light of relevant legal principles, legislative
provisions, doctrines involved, and judicial precedents attracting such facts of the cases.

Discussion method is a reflective thinking by two or more persons who cooperatively exchange
information and ideas in order to find solution to a problem by engage in an orderly verbal
interchange and expressing one’s own thoughts on a particular subject and topic. It is organized
in a planned democratic manner which involves planning from the side of instructor along with
the participation of students. Students will discuss the topic and then the teacher or the leader of
the group ask the questions and the discussion is then further carried out. The discussion should
be systemized in order to find a meaning to the problem and the teacher has to take care that the
discussion is not going into any other meaningless direction.

Illustration: For discussion a problem can be selected of common interest. For example, let us
take Criminal justice system in India. After taking a topic, the teacher will briefly introduce a
topic. Then after this, the students will work together in a group involving themselves in an
actual discussion. Then there will be question answer session along with suggestions on the
topic.

CASE METHOD PROBLEM METHOD

Principal method of law school instruction. Major alternative to the case method
Students acquire legal knowledge and skills by A problem rather than a case opinion
dissecting the arguments and reasoning in constitutes the focus of discussion and students
appellate case opinions and responding to determine in this as to which part of their legal
questions and comments from the teacher. knowledge base is relevant and can be used
appropriately to solve the problem.
It was introduced in the late nineteenth century The establishment and application of problem
to reform legal education by affording students method started as early as in the 1960s in
a more active learning experience. teaching and training.
Fosters vicarious learning that benefits only a It is more effective than the case study method
small and exclusive segment of law students. when judged by an array of important criteria.

The criterion which I’ll adopt while choosing these methods are:

 Depending on the class strength.

 Capability of students and their adaptability towards the subject.
 The semesters in which they are studying.
 Relevance of the topic because every topic cannot be explained by these methods
discussed above.
 Motivation of the student.
 Depending on the time required to teach the topic.
 According to the materials available on the topic.
 The instruments and infrastructure available in the institute.

Depending upon all these factors, I’ll choose a suitable method for teaching and learning process
so that a proper outcome is achieved of problem proposed.