UJGUPX-60-M Legal Research Project Workbook : Portfolio 3 (Progress Report/Critical Discussion)

UJGUPX-60-M The Role of the LRP Portfolio

As part of your work on the Legal Research Project, we ask students to complete a series of portfolio submissions. These are designed to help you build your research in a structured and organized way.

These portfolio submissions are formative. This means that the work you submit does NOT contribute to your final mark for this module. However, the work you do in these portfolios will contribute to your progress by providing an opportunity to develop your ideas and receive feedback from your mentor on the ideas you submit.

Moreover, while this work is not formally graded, these portfolios WILL be used as part of the Critical Discussion oral assessment in July. In this submission, you are required to resubmit your portfolio submissions with any changes, improvements, or revisions you have completed during this period. The goal is that by the time you reach the Critical Discussion assessment, you will have a document which clearly sets out the foundations and structure of your Legal Research Project. If you have not completed any of the first two portfolio submissions, you can use this submission as an opportunity to do so. We will use the work you submit to help us formulate the questions you are asked in the assessment. This means that YOU, in effect, can shape the Critical Discussion assessment.

You do not have to complete this portfolio submission. However, as this third submission will be used as a form of evidence, demonstrating your engagement and progress, students who do not submit this work should expect to be asked to explain why not and to evidence their engagement in the discussion itself. It is easier to demonstrate your engagement and progress effectively when you combine this portfolio with the discussion in the Critical Discussion assessment. While there is no formal penalty for not completing these portfolios, it is more challenging to demonstrate engagement and progress effectively in the time available for the Critical Discussion. These portfolios represent an important part of your learning journey and the mentoring and feedback you will receive from your research mentor. If you do not attempt these portfolios, you will miss an opportunity to organize your work and obtain feedback. Therefore, please make every effort to submit.

You will submit these portfolios through Blackboard, and you will be able to access feedback through myUWE/myMarks. Your mentor may also use your UWE email address to send feedback. Any numerical mark you receive will NOT form part of your overall mark for this module and will be present as a technical requirement of the Blackboard marking system only. 

Note: as your portfolio is submitted just before the scheduled Critical Discussions, formal feedback will not be provided on this content. However, any amendments and changes can, of course, be discussed with your mentor in your normal ongoing mentoring meetings.

UJGUPX-60-M Portfolio 3 Instructions

The third portfolio submission is designed to provide an insight into where you currently are with your legal research project. It provides an opportunity to demonstrate changes, improvements, as well as some of your thinking and analysis around your chosen topic. The third portfolio also provides an opportunity to reflect on your research process. Most importantly, the work you submit here will be used by your assessors to frame their questions and discussion for the Critical Discussion assessment in July.

FULL DETAILS AND INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO AND CRITICAL DISCUSSION ASSESSMENT BRIEF.

The third portfolio is divided into two parts.

In Part A, you are required to resubmit your portfolio submissions with any changes, improvements, or revisions you have completed during this period, i.e. these submissions should show how your research has developed from when you first submitted your portfolios. 

If you did not submit one or both of the first two portfolio submissions, you can complete them now, if you wish.

Note on Word Limits:

In Part B, you are required to complete three tasks:

1.Reflecting on Portfolio 1 and 2: Complete a short reflection on each of the first two portfolios, explaining what has been done (or not), what has changed (or not) and why. You may also reflect on what further actions you have identified for yourself following these reflections. There is a word limit of 250 words for each portfolio entry.
2.Research Objectives Timeline: Complete a Research Objectives timeline. What is your plan to complete your legal research project? As this part of the portfolio involves completing a table, there is no word limit.
3.Initial Findings: identify one of your existing aims/objectives/research questions and provide an illustration of your research and analysis in respect of that question. There is a word limit of 1000 words for this task.

PART A: Complete the following sections (insert answers inside the boxes and tables provided):

Students who completed either or both of the first two portfolios should copy over their work in its current form. i.e. you should have continued to develop the work in these submissions based on further research and feedback. The work you copy over will therefore illustrate how your knowledge and approach has developed over time. If you have completed these portfolio entries before, there is no word limit. However, please consider the relevance and value of work you choose to include.

Students who completed only one or neither of the first two portfolio submissions can choose to complete any missing work here. However, if you are completing portfolio work for the first time, you must comply with the original word limits.

Portfolio 1: Defining your Legal Research Project

1.(a) What is your area of legal research interest?

Briefly set out what your area of interest is. This does not need to be a focused question, but you should identify a legal issue/area that you are interested in exploring. Remember that your area of interest should have some connection to the general areas covered by your LLM programme. (Has your area of interest changed since your first submission?)

(b) Why are you interested in this area and why do you think it will be a useful research project to complete? (If you are completing this section for the first time, the Word Limit = 250 words)

Use this question to explain why you chose this area and to consider why research in this area will be useful. In answering this question, consider who would find your research useful, what ‘problem’ does it address, what impact or use will it have. (Has your interest or motivation changed or become more specific since your first submission?)

2.Key Primary Legal Sources

Your research project should have a clear legal basis. Use this question to identify the key primary sources of law relevant to your area of research. You are not required to comment on these at this point, only to identify what is the relevant legal framework within your chosen area of research. (If you have identified further legal sources since your first submission, remember to include them here.)

3.Key secondary legal sources

Students often initially struggle to identify a focus for their research project. This task becomes easier when a student has engaged with relevant literature in that area. Once you have done this, it becomes easier to identify areas of interest and controversy. 

Use your legal research skills to identify 5-8 secondary legal sources relevant to your area. (If you have identified further academic sources since your first submission, remember to include them here. Students submitting for the first time should limit their sources to 5-8. Students who are copying over their original work can include further sources.)

• Examples of appropriate sources: articles published in peer reviewed journals, chapters from edited collections, chapters from monographs.
• Examples of inappropriate sources: newspaper articles (too general), blog posts (quality may be questionable or not known), textbooks (better for identifying basic rules than for deep critical analysis), entire books (scope too wide). 

Note: you do not need to include EVERY new additional source. While we will be pleased to see the extent of your efforts, consider how best to show your progress and development, for example, by highlighting the most important new additions. If you are questioned about this in the Critical Discussion, you will obviously be able to discuss your further research there.

4.Review/discussion of sources (literature review)

(If you are completing this section for the first time, the Word Limit = 1250 words)

In this section, you should discuss the secondary sources listed above and what they say about the major issues or themes in your chosen area. Review your slides and notes on conducting literature reviews to help you prepare for this section. 

This is the most significant part of your first portfolio submission as it is here that you will be able to show your research skills, your careful reading of the sources identified and your ability to analyze legal academic research. What you do here will also help your mentor to work out what guidance and advice you need to help you in your development.

Try to avoid simply summarizing each source in a list. Instead, try to organize the sources by themes or ideas, helping you to think about connections, major arguments, differences in opinion, controversies, and gaps in the field. Remember that this work may also help you to explain WHY you are interested in the area and what your precise question is going to be.

(If you have completed further reading and research since you first submitted, this is a good place to develop your ideas and evidence your critical analysis. Remember that a literature review examines the relationships between literature, focusing on what we can learn about the field now. You may choose to focus on the most significant aspects of your developed research.)

5.Draft Legal Research Question

The work you have done for this first submission should have helped to increase your knowledge of the law in your chosen area of interest and the issues that would benefit from further research. Your research project should have a title, in effect, a research question or hypothesis that your final report assessment will address. Using the information and ideas you have identified, produce a draft research question on your area of interest.

Your mentor will give feedback on this question so that you can agree a final title/focus for your Legal Research Project.

(Students who have already completed this section should simply repeat the same answer as this aspect was itself developed in the second portfolio.)

Portfolio 2: Refining your Legal Research Project

1.State the title/research question of your legal research project.

In the first portfolio, you worked through some initial steps to develop your research question. Your mentor will have fed back on this, either approving the question or providing feedback on how it could be developed further. Based on this, please insert your research question below.
Remember: your title should be in the form of a research question or hypothesis. It is not sufficient to simply state an area of interest. (Note any further changes considering any feedback from mentor.)

2.Research Outcomes

A research question helps to define the broad direction of your research. However, the process of research, analysis and writing is enhanced by carefully thinking through what your research question entails. The following questions will help you to think through your project in a more sophisticated way.

(If you are completing this section for the first time, the Word Limit = 300 words) 

(a)What are the aims of your research? (i.e., what do you hope to achieve by the end of this project) (Word Limit 200 words)

When thinking about the aims of your research, it may be useful to consider the overriding purpose of your chosen research. As the Legal Research Project asks you to consider recommendations for reform, practice, or improvement, thinking about what areas or issues require attention may help you to identify clear aims. (You can use bullet points, but are encouraged to provide some discussion/explanation, as required.)

(If you submitted this the first time, have the aims of your research developed or changed in light of further reading or research?)

(b)What are the objectives of your research? (i.e., how do you intend to achieve these aims, what steps or actions will you take?) (If you are completing this section for the first time, the Word Limit = 300 words) 

When considering the objectives of your research, you should think about these on two levels:

i.What are the main questions you need to address to progress your understanding and support the completion of your aim? 
ii.Do you have any personal objectives that will enable you to progress your research? This second level invites you to consider the skills and resources that you have and that you think you will need. Are there areas where you feel less experienced or less confident? What will you to about this?

(c)What are your research questions? (i.e., what are the questions and sub-questions that explain how you will approach your research?)

In this section, you are effectively breaking down the bigger questions into smaller more specific or detailed ones. If you can set out specific questions in a logical way, you are, in effect, building a structure for your investigation and possibly also your final report. At this stage, you may not be able to complete this section fully. However, you should be able to make a start. If you are struggling to get started, picking a smaller objective or question and considering how it can be broken down into smaller questions and stages may help you to get started.

You only need to add questions rather than explanation or answers. This section is concerned with the structure and direction of your research rather than the fine detail of your findings.

(This could be a good area to add further detail as additional research will help to clarify your overall approach and structure.)

(d)Which methodology is the best fit for your legal research project?

Choose ONE of the following: Choose an item.

Why is this the most appropriate choice for your project (referring to relevant sources as required)? (If you are completing this section for the first time, the Word Limit =  500 words)

3.Progress Update

(If you are completing this section for the first time, the Word Limit = 500 words)

My progress so far is Choose an item.

Reflect on your answer in the box below. Reflection requires you to honestly consider what has happened, to think about what you can learn from that experience, and to use these insights to plan for further action and improvement. It is okay for things not to be going well: reflection is about learning from our experiences, both good and bad. When we examine what has happened and question why, this can make our future actions clearer and more effective.

PART B: Progress Report - Complete the following sections (insert answers inside the boxes and tables provided):

Part B of this submission is new. All students should attempt to complete these sections.

1.(a) Reflecting on Portfolio 1: Defining your Legal Research Project (Word limit: 250 words)

The purpose of these entries is to understand our own experiences to identify good practice, weaknesses, and reasons for progress/lack of progress. Reflection should prompt action and development, so try to consider what you have learned about yourself and legal research.

In Part A, you were asked to share your current work in relation to the materials covered in Portfolio 1. Use the box below to explain what changes have been made and why and/or how these changes occurred. For example, did you change or develop ideas based on specific reading, or feedback, or mentor meetings or something else? Did you change an approach because you undertook some skills development etc. If Part A sets out what has changed, this reflection should seek to explain or understand WHY it changed.

Note: there is no assumption that everything will have changed. However, you may wish to justify or explain why no changes have occurred. Likewise, if circumstances have impacted upon your work, you may choose to mention them.

1.(b) Reflecting on Portfolio 2: Refining your Legal Research Project (Word limit: 250 words)

The purpose of these entries is to understand our own experiences to identify good practice, weaknesses, and reasons for progress/lack of progress. Reflection should prompt action and development, so try to consider what you have learned about yourself and legal research.

In Part A, you were asked to share your current work in relation to the materials covered in Portfolio 2. Use the box below to explain what changes have been made and why and/or how these changes occurred. For example, did you change or develop ideas based on specific reading, or feedback, or mentor meetings or something else? Did you change an approach because you undertook some skills development etc. If Part A sets out what has changed, this reflection should seek to explain or understand WHY it changed.

Note: there is no assumption that everything will have changed. However, you may wish to justify or explain why no changes have occurred. Likewise, if circumstances have impacted upon your work, you may choose to mention them.

2.Research Objectives Timeline

• Review your first portfolio submission where you set out your research aims, objectives and questions.
• Identify the central objectives and/or research questions for your legal research project. (You do not need to list every single one – pick the key stages or requirements for the completion of your project.) Insert these into the first column of the table below.
• Indicate the status of each research objective/question in the Status column and, if in progress, estimate how far you have gone towards completing that objective/question in the third column.
• For research objectives/questions which are currently incomplete, indicate your schedule for completing this task in the fourth column. 
  If a research objective/question has been adjusted, removed, or there are issues you wish to raise which are not covered elsewhere, you can also use 3.Initial Findings (Word Limit = 1000 words)

In this section, we would like you to demonstrate and discuss some of your progress so far.

• Select ONE of your Research Aims/Objectives/Questions. Copy this into the box below.
• In the box below, please share some of your analysis and thinking around these.
• In this section, your aim is to share and demonstrate your critical analytical skills. The content is not reflective, nor is it descriptive. The reader should gain a sense of your point of view in relation to a key argument or issue within your Legal Research Project.
• Remember, as this is an illustration of your engagement with critical analysis. The work should not simply summarise sources read. The work should be applied to address the issue you identify. 

In completing this task, you should keep in mind the following guidelines:

• Your account should contain enough explanation of relevant legal issues to provide context for the reader. 
• Your account should aim to demonstrate analysis and, where relevant, critical engagement with the materials/issues being discussed. In other words, content here should not just describe laws or facts, but should engage with arguments and debates, explaining the strengths, weaknesses or significance of points being discussed, weighing up counter-arguments and other perspectives or points of view. 
• There should be evidence of independent engagement with academic materials. This means proper referencing but more significantly, it means demonstrating engagement with materials through the inclusion of detail and specific points.