 two branches of the legal profession (solicitors and barristers) and academics. The CPE Board stipulates that students have to attend a minimum of twelve face-to-face tuition days each academic year. Students on the first year of the course in 1998/99 almost unanimously recorded the view that the sessions should remain as a compulsory element of the course, and that even if they were optional they would attend.
The sessions proved educationally rewarding for students. However, the compulsory nature of the tuition deterred the recruitment of overseas students. It is also at odds with the Department's rationale for introducing this mode in the first place: flexibility for those in full-time employment; with family commitments; with a disability etc.
This article is an evaluation of the course, following the end of its second year of delivery; the evaluation is based primarily upon a consideration of the above issues (sections 1.1.1 to 1.1.4). Although pedagogical issues permeate throughout this article, substantive pedagogical discussion is reserved to section 3 (on collaborative student learning) and 5.2.3 (when discussing the pedagogical rationale for compulsory face-to-face tuition).
2. Retention rate/assessment 1999/2000
2.1 Retention rate
2.1.1 Year One
Twenty students were recruited onto Year One of the distance learning course, compared to 13 on the conventional part-time course. Of the distance learning students, two withdrew and four deferred their studies to the 2000/01 academic year, representing a 70% retention rate (increasing to 87.5% if the deferrals are excluded from the statistics). Of the 13 part-time students, three withdrew during the year, which equates to a 76.9% retention rate.
This can be compared to the 1998/99 retention rates of 61.5% (increasing to 69.2% if the one student who deferred his studies until the 1999/2000 academic year is excluded) for the distance learning course, and 92.9% for the part-time course.
It would appear that the distance learning course can expect to have a greater number of students withdrawing during the academic year, compared to those on the conventional part-time course. The distance learning course, with the requirement that students submit an average of two tutorials each week for marking and feedback, starts off at a fast, undiminishing, tempo. Students who fall behind during the first week are playing catch-up and the pressure this creates would appear to result in them either withdrawing from the course or deferring their studies. One of the two students who withdrew, along with three of the four who deferred, were all lagging behind with their tutorial submissions from the first stages of the course. These four had been recruited onto the course the week before it commenced. Preliminary reading and the completion of written exercises on the English Legal System (which is estimated to take about 80 hours to complete) had to be undertaken prior to the course's commencement. It was unlikely that those students recruited onto the course the week before its start date would have had sufficient time to complete this work, and therefore they were faced with the dual burden of completing their preliminary work as well as submitting tutorials for the substantive subjects.
The remaining one student who withdrew was one of the most academically gifted. However, a move abroad and an increased workload within his new employment resulted in his decision to leave the course. The other student deferring his studies to the 2000/01 academic year did so because of work and family commitments; his tutorial submissions became less frequent and he was counselled into deferring his studies.
As stated in the previous article (Fairhurst 1999p.23), the superior retention rate for the part-time course could be due to the fact that students could attend classes without having prepared for tutorials. In addition the part-time course starts at a less frenetic pace, thus providing students with a settling-in period.
For the 2000/01 academic year it has been decided to have a cut-off point two weeks before the course begins for the recruitment of students onto the distance learning course. This will ensure that students have sufficient time available to have completed their preliminary work, thus enabling them to concentrate solely on the substantive subjects.
2.1.2 Year Two
In Year Two of the course, all seven distance learning students and all ten part-time students continued through to their final assessments. This is par for the course on the PgDL (CPE); it is rare for students who proceed to Year Two to subsequently withdraw.
2.2 Assessment
2.2.1 Year One
Distance learning
Of the 14 students who proceeded to their final examinations in the summer, nine passed and will proceed to Year Two, three failed, one failed by default (because he did not attend the exams) and one deferred his exams to the following academic year. If the student who failed by default and the one who deferred are excluded, this represents a 75% pass rate; down from the 100% pass rate the previous year.
Subject-to-subject, the average marks were: Contract Law 55.25%; Criminal Law 50.33%; EC Law 58.42%; and Public Law 57.67%. Two of the twelve students are on course for a distinction (average of 70% ), with a further five on course for a commendation (average of 60% ).
Conventional part-time
Of the ten students who proceeded to their final examinations in the summer, eight passed and will proceed to Year Two, one failed and one deferred his exams to the August resits. If the deferred student is excluded from the statistics, this represents an 88.9% pass rate.
Subject-to-subject, the average marks were: Contract Law 56.33%; Criminal Law 51.22%; EC Law 52.44%; and Public Law 56%. Five of the nine students are on course for a commendation (average of 60% ).
Distance learning v. conventional part-time
The overall average mark for the distance learning students was 55.42% compared to 54% for the part-time students. Although there have been some failures, the fact that a majority of students on the distance learning course are on target for commendations (with two distinctions a possibility) is indicative of the fact that the course is achieving its educational objectives.
2.2.2 Year Two
Of the seven students who sat the final examinations, six passed and one was referred in his Land exam, representing an 85.7% success rate. Of the six students who passed, three were awarded commendations having achieved an average of 60%.
Subject-to-subject, the average marks were: Equity and Trusts 48.86%; Land Law 49.71%; Torts 52.57%. Students also had to complete a research project during their second year; the average mark was 64.43%.
Of the ten students who sat the final examinations, three students passed, three were referred in one subject, one failed all three exams, and three had their exams deferred due to extenuating circumstances. Excluding the deferred candidates, this represents a 42.9% success rate. No commendations were awarded.
Subject-to-subject, the average marks were: Equity and Trusts 42.71%; Land Law 49%; Torts 48.57%. The average mark for the research project was 58.43%.
Previously (Fairhurst, 1999, p.23), the weak academic ability of the conventional part-time cohort of students was highlighted. This has undoubtedly been reflected in their final results. The overall average mark for the distance learning students (over the two years of the course) was 55.86%, compared to 53% for the part-time students.
3. Collaborative student learning 1999/2000
While the statistics discussed above in section 2 set the scene for the course in terms of retention and success rates, it does little to add to the growing academic debate about the implementation of technology for teaching; what works and what does not? Academics the world over are divided as to the extent to which technology can be incorporated within education, in particular the extent to which an entire course can be delivered online (see, for example, University of Illinois Report 1999).
Suitability of a course for online delivery can depend upon the course and the student body. The University of Illinois (Report,1999, p.2) has recognised that 'traditional' undergraduate students benefit from '... the maturing, socialising component of an undergraduate college education and this requires on-campus presence.' This is further elaborated on (at p.41):
'Perhaps the most risky wholly online context is the offering of whole degrees in undergraduate education. While this mode might be justified for some place-bound students, online interconnectivity, as good as it can be, still cannot replace the human interactions of in-class, in-the-hallways, and in-the-pub situations.'
In contrast, the Report states (at p.21) that postgraduate students 'have already gained a great deal of socialisation through their first degree, and less of this is needed...'
The PgDL (CPE) course is postgraduate in nature and therefore is prima facie suitable for online delivery.
Feenberg (1999b, p.1) has referred to Plato's denunciation of the written medium because of its failure to recreate the spontaneity of oral dialogue. The pedagogical merits of engaging in dialogue between students, and between tutors and students is well documented (see, for example, Chickering and Gamson, 1987). In Plato's view (Plato, 1961), the written manuscript could not instruct a student who misunderstood its message, because of the passive form of the medium. As Feenberg (1999b, p.2) stated:
'Plato holds that the technology of writing has the power to destroy the dialogic relationship which