Activity at CELL revolves around our projects, of which there are many. Some are small and short-term, while others are large and long-term. Some of the projects will be the foundation or provide the framework for other projects, and many are interdependent. Our projects can be sorted relating to three broad aims:
Advancing our courses and study programs
We stimulate and provide frameworks for the development and implementation of more experience-based teaching methods in courses and study programs at the Faculty of Law, Oslo.
The Skills Ladder
The Skills Ladder project provides the overarching framework for several other core projects at CELL. It's main objective is improving the learning progression throughout the Master of Laws study program, ensuring progress in how students train and develop skills. There is special emphasis on verbal skills and advocacy, writing and plain language, digital skills, negotiation and cooperation, and critical thinking and academic skills.
Examples of other projects relating to the development of learning and teaching methods are "The Student Researcher" and "Students as Disseminators".
Resources for teachers and students
These projects aim to establish supportive resources for all teachers and students, like counselling services and helpdesks, forums and meet-ups, online knowledge resources and similar initiatives. The projects aims to provide tools for the individual educator or learner, and nurturing interest in skills required for lawyers today and in the future. Some projects also aims to reduce students fixation on exams and grades, which may negatively impact the learning environment, as well as promoting a culture of sharing and cooperation.
Examples are Legal Innovation Lab Oslo, our online toolbox of pedagogy, the Writing Lab and the Digital Courtroom project.
Research and dissemination
We believe it is necessary to produce more research on legal education in Norway. We aim to establish a foundation for a community on legal pedagogy research. We also seek to become a hub for dissemination, sharing knowledge and experience between our other specialist master programs, as well as other law faculties, both nationally and abroad.
We have initiated research and established research projects relating to legal education, on themes like the effectiveness of current experiential legal learning, and the role of mentors in study groups. We also experiment with different methods for evaluating and assessing teaching, with the aim to produce guidelines for course evaluation.