DoWnloaD - Thomson Reuters

What are the aims of the book
The aim of Law Essentials: Foundations in
Australian Law is to create a practical, useful and
engaging textbook for first year law students in
Australia. The idea behind the book is to draw
together the works of a variety of key Australian
legal authors including Wolski, Parkinson,
Ellis and Carvan to provide students with just
the right amount of knowledge and skills to
ignite their excitement in studying law, and
to help establish the foundations of their law
degrees. Law Essentials is designed to be an
easy-to-navigate book, with reader-friendly
features such as a styled format, pictures,
diagrams and summary points.
What are the main benefits you would like
students to take away from the book
Law Essentials is a book that equips students
with both the knowledge and skills needed to
launch them into their law degrees, whether
as a first year university student, a graduate of
another degree or a student returning to study.
The book gives students essential insight into the
operation of the Australian legal system and law
making in Australia. This book provides detailed
guidance for developing fundamental skills such
as legal reasoning and research, oral and written
communication as well as an understanding of
the requirements and process for admission to
practice as an Australian lawyer.
What are the main benefits you would like
lecturers to take away from the book
For lecturers, this is a text that clearly sets out,
in an engaging and reader-friendly way, the
fundamental knowledge students need for their
future law studies, as well as the essential skills
they need for university and lifelong learning
success. Our book assists lecturers to engage
students with their learning by setting out a
well-designed and appealing first year course.
We make use of lots of diagrams, images and
summary points so the book is interesting to
students and easier to navigate than the
average law text.
Tell us about the Teachers Supplement that
comes with the book.
The Teachers’ Supplement is a guide to assist
first year law lecturers, providing them with a
summary of the first year law curriculum, and
some sample learning outcomes for first year law.
It has a guide to assessing learning outcomes
in first year law, and some practical teaching
suggestions for first year law teachers.
The Supplement was also written to provide a
‘big picture’ national snapshot of legal education
in Australia, including an explanation of national
and discipline-specific learning standards upon
which Law Essentials is based. A list of references
assists teachers to follow up further with literature
on first year legal education in Australia.
What are the challenges particular to first
year teachers
First year teachers are in a unique position. The
majority of first years are fresh out of secondary
school and their first law subject is also therefore
their first ever university subject. There’s a lot to
learn about University life. Often they feel insecure
and anonymous amongst the large groups of
students who share their lectures and therefore
it is crucial that their teachers are able to engage
them and put them at ease with each other and
their course materials. At first year skills are as
important as knowledge. For example, legal
reasoning is a completely new concept for most
students and it is essential for them to understand
that success in law is more than just learning the
law, but rather greatly connected to their ability
to be able to apply the law to a new set of facts.
More information about
Law Essentials
can be found on page 68
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