Sadie is a practising Solicitor, Lecturer and Director of Clinical Legal Education at Lancaster University Law School. Sadie’s research and scholarship focuses on civil litigation, clinical legal education and authentic learning and assessment.
Prior to joining the University, Sadie was a Solicitor at a Magic Circle law firm in London. In this role, she worked on high profile Litigation and Regulatory disputes and was seconded to the firm’s Amsterdam office and later to the legal team of a Premier League football club. Sadie also worked as a Solicitor in the Commercial Dispute Resolution team of a global law firm based in Manchester.
Sadie is the Director of the five Law Clinic modules and is a supervising Solicitor.
Sadie is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is also a 2021/22 Fellow of the Institute for Curriculum Enhancement, and in this capacity she is exploring authentic learning and assessment in Higher Education.
The Genuine Article: Authentic Learning and Assessment in Law as a Vehicle to Increase Student Employability and Engagement
Abstract:
Authentic learning and assessment, which refers to tasks and assessment practices that simulate complex, real-world situations, are a dramatic departure from the traditional forms of learning and assessment in Higher Education. In this paper, the author discusses their experience of introducing an undergraduate Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution module which is grounded in authentic learning and assessment practices in a UK law school. The paper examines student feedback from the module regarding their experience of authentic tasks and the existing literature, concluding that the introduction of authentic learning and assessment in the undergraduate law degree can increase student employability and engagement. In addition, authentic tasks can meet the demands of both students and the profession that legal studies are applied and useful. The paper discusses some of the challenges to the introduction of authentic tasks in the law degree and examines practical ways in which lecturers can introduce authentic “moments” in existing modules.