The Impact of a Hybrid Teaching and Assessment Strategy on Student Achievement in a Public Law Module

This paper will explore the findings of a research study conducted as part of a doctoral thesis (pending viva). The study examined the impact of a hybrid teaching and assessment strategy on student achievement in a first-year Public Law module at a post-1992 University. This strategy was introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in order to enable teaching and assessment to continue through lockdowns and other Government imposed restrictions. It facilitated both a 'pivot' from face-to-face to online delivery and vice versa as circumstances dictated and flexibility insofar as assessment format was concerned. For the module in question, the key change was the move from a traditional closed-book examination to one that was carried out online. This has been retained post-pandemic.
The study sought to ascertain the extent to which student achievement was impacted by the various changes in delivery and assessment methods. It did this by analysing data relating to four consecutive cohorts of students enrolled on the module pre-, mid- and post-pandemic. It addressed a number of research questions centred around the variations in performance of students, taking into account a number of different variables that may have an impact.
The findings of the quantitative study will be discussed in this paper. The findings' implications for future flexibility in module and assessment design across a law degree curriculum will be explored along with the need identified for integration of skills development in relation to 'online readiness' and curriculum literacy to allow any flexibility to be of the most benefit to students.
The paper will be relevant to legal educators who are either interested in the impact of hybrid teaching and assessment strategies on student achievement or those interested more widely in curriculum and assessment design.