Mooting learning opportunities - Students' challenges, emotions and feedback for improvement.

Abstract

Across the UK’s higher education sector, an internet search was conducted to identify and better understand what the mooting learning opportunities were from 100 universities, (Lowenstein, 2018). The quantitative overview revealed that mooting activities were wide spread within the LLB curriculum and also beyond it through voluntary activities set up by student mooting societies. There was diversity within mooting activities including 99% offering mooting competitions, 47% offering engagement with law clinics and 1% offering full show trials. Importantly, such high mooting learning provision nationally suggests that such opportunities were valued by students. However, whilst many academics and their students may likely know what mooting is, there remains very little recent qualitative data published regarding students’ predominant challenges, emotions and feedback for improvement as they acquire and develop their mooting skills including why they feel as they do. This research provides the results from self-administered qualitative survey data gathered from 2017 to 2019, (Andres, 2012: 47). The student data gathered from mooting activities at Bournemouth University specifically includes mooting competitions, the opportunity in placements to engage with law clinics, but also the very rare full show trial. This involves a practising judge, legal counselling testing evidence via witness handling upon a criminal law scenario and leads to a jury decision from the students (Bournemouth University, 2019). The indicative shared perceptions of 75 students covered the following areas with relevant likert attitudinal scales: 1) Access to mooting guidance and resources. 2) Extent of the learning challenge (high to low). 3) How and why emotions develop over time (positive to negative). 4) Feedback for improvement. The indicative data will be discussed and conclusions posited for the audience.