Outcome-Based Education for Legal Education: The Universal Approach and a Case Study of Hong Kong

Outcome-Based Education ('OBE') is a pedagogical approach that suggests that educators should organize every component in a curriculum so that learners accomplish predetermined learning outcomes upon completion of their learning process.The focus of OBE is on teaching students not only knowledge but also skills that they can perform upon completion of their formal learning process. Because of its pedagogical impact, regulators worldwide are embracing OBE as a measure of quality assurance of legal education. However, having a set of outcomes is only the first step towards implementing OBE. To fully implement OBE, teachers need to be aware of the underlying principles of OBE. My general research question(s) are: Are law teachers aware of OBE; and, if not, what are the consequences of a lack of awareness of OBE for legal education? And how can it be addressed?While OBE has become a widely adopted method worldwide, research documenting its implementation in legal education is lacking. The available literature primarily focuses on its adoption at the primary and secondary levels of education. While well-established OBE teaching practices exist, it is unclear if, and to what extent, law teachers are aware of these practices, or if they follow such practices in their implementation of OBE. Using law schools within Hong Kong as a case study, this thesis aims to fill the existing research gaps.This thesis has four main objectives. First, it aims to provide a comprehensive literature review of the status of OBE in legal education internationally. Second, it aims to make recommendations for improving OBE implementation in legal education. Third, it provides an empirical account of law teachers' awareness of OBE in Hong Kong. Having an understanding of OBE is essential because outcomes are the essence of OBE, which distinguish OBE from other similar educational theories. The fourth objective of this thesis is to assess teachers' perceptions of the OBE model in Hong Kong. Teachers' perceptions are important because they directly influence how teachers make their pedagogical decisions.This thesis explores both theoretical and practical dimensions of OBE in legal education and consists of six chapters. The introductory chapter provides a general background to the thesis identifying the objectives, research questions, research methodologies, scope and structure of the thesis. Chapter Two is a literature review. It examines previous scholarship on the status of OBE in education in general and in legal education. Chapter Three of this thesis engages in a doctrinal study of the relationship between OBE and academic freedom. Chapter Four develops recommendations to improve OBE-based legal education in general. Chapter Five gives an account of OBE in legal education in Hong Kong and documents empirical research on current OBE status in legal education in Hong Kong. The last chapter summarizes the major findings of this thesis and concludes with final remarks. The information generated by this thesis will be useful for law schools in Hong Kong and other Commonwealth jurisdictions and will contribute towards improved quality law teaching.成果為本教育（OBE）是一種教學方法，它建議教育者應圍繞學習成果來組織課程的每個部分，以使學習者在完成學習過程後即可達到預定的學習成果,OBE的重點不在於教導學生知識，還在於教導他們一些在正規學習過程結束後有用的技能。由於OBE教學方法的影響力，全世界的教育監管機構都將OBE視為保證法學教育質量的一種方法，但是制定學習成果只是實施OBE的第一步,為了全面實施OBE，教師需要了解OBE的基本原則。本論文的主要研究課題包括：法律教師是否有OBE意識？如果沒有，那麼這對法學教育有什麽後果？以及如何解決？本論文有四個主要目的,首目的是對OBE在國際上法學教育中的情況進行全面的文獻綜述。其次，它旨在為改善在法學教育中實施OBE提出建議。第三，它提供了一個實證研究，調查了香港的法學教師對OBE意識的程度。本論文的第四個目的是調查香港的法學教師對實施OBE的看法。本論文探討了法學教育中OBE的理論和實踐兩個層面，共分六章。緒論部分為論文的研究提供了背景，並確定了論文的目的、研究課題、研究方法、論文的範圍和結構。第二章是文獻綜述。它探索了關於OBE在一般教育和法學教育中的文獻。本論文的第三章對OBE與學術自由之間的關係進行了理論研究。第四章提出了針對如何改善在法學教育中實施OBE的建議。第五章探討了香港法學教育實施OBE的情況,記錄了對香港法學教育中OBE現狀的實證研究。最後一章總結了本論文的主要研究成果，並以結論作總結。本論文的研究成果將對香港和英聯邦司法管轄區的法學院有用，並將有助於提高法學教育的質量。CHAN, Ying.Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2021.Includes bibliographical references (leaves )Abstracts in English and Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on ...