A pilot study of virtual cases in law education
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the possibility to create and use virtual law cases/virtual clients for training Contract Law for undergraduate students. The study also investigated the attitudes of the learners of using such cases.A previously wide-spread case system for healthcare education, Web-SP, was adapted to be used for legal cases. One case was developed by a senior legal expert and teacher, which was subsequently used by 52 students in a course on contract law during three seminars. A questionnaire was used to gather students’ opinions on the use of the virtual cases.
Most students were positive to the use of virtual law cases to practice their legal decision making. Almost all learners believed that the virtual cases were realistic and engaging and that they also found the interactive Web-SP cases to be good for their learning.
Future studies need to look into concrete learning outcomes as well as the potential of using virtual law cases for exams.
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