Threshold concepts in law: Intentional curriculum reform to support law student learning success and well-being

Student well-being in tertiary education contexts is an important issue because the psychological health of students is a critical component of their capacity to learn effectively. A large body of international scholarship has now established that significant numbers of students of higher education experience elevated levels of psychological distress and this negatively impacts the quality of their learning at university. Research into law students has shown that around one-third of law students experience higher levels of psychological distress than the general population after their first year of study at law school. Using self-determination theory from positive psychology as a lens, this chapter identifies threshold concepts in law, such as ‘legal reasoning’, as holding the key to future directions in legal education that support law student well-being