Exceeding the boundaries of formulaic assessment: innovation and creativity in the law school

Abstract

Marked and wide-ranging changes have taken place in the way that law is taught, especially at undergraduate level. The challenge remains, however, to match these changes with equivalent innovations in assessment patterns and procedures. It has largely been accepted that the “death-by-final-examination” method is no longer fit for purpose. Unfortunately, this has been replaced by an equally traditional “coursework and examination” model that is equally stifling. Even more so, such modes of assessment offer a largely inadequate mechanism for testing teaching regimes that are innovative and creative. The authors of this article have sought to draw on the existing literature, and to set out their own views, as to reasons why the innovations in teaching must be met with corresponding equivalents in the assessment regime. The article then sets out the authors' efforts to go beyond the rigid strictures of traditional assessment, based on their experience at the Department of Law and Criminology at the University of Greenwich.