Briefing Notes and 3MT Posters
Briefing Notes
The briefing note required the student to inform or advise a decision-maker (a Minister, government official, a CEO, member of an NGO, a visiting delegation, or a corporation etc) on a contentious aspect of law. It needed to be targeted and short (maximum 800 words), concise, written with clarity and accuracy. As part of informing the decision-maker, options and/or recommendations were required. It was not a research exercise but required students to draw on the knowledge gained throughout the course, to reflect, evaluate and analyse. Again, the briefing introduced a real-life skill used in contemporary legal and policy workplaces.
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3 MT Posters
Posters are well accepted at academic and professional conferences for science, medicine, engineering, and information technology where the poster section is an important adjunct to delivery of formal conference papers.
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What is a 3MT Poster?
An e-poster with accompanying short oral [elevator-pitch style] presentation in tutorials or in LLM class [40%].
I first used this in LAWS7020, Comparative Criminal Law. Dr O’Brien and I wanted to trial this for a Masters level class with international and domestic LLM students. It took the place of the former research proposal. It had the same goals requiring students to articulate their research questions and share preliminary research. As the ‘Pitch’ was in person, it had the added advantage of diminishing risk of outsourcing assessment. It also allowed students to see approaches of others. In this way, the pitches themselves became a learning not just an assessment experience. It tested their knowledge and understanding of their research through as questions from the class, Dr O’Brien, and me. We called it an elevator pitch to emphasis students had just a small window of opportunity in which to explain their research for their final paper setting out the question, preliminary findings, why it is worthwhile and relevant, and enthusiasm for their chosen topic.
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Students could have one PowerPoint on the screen to illustrate, highlight or assist the pitch. As noted, it was a variant of the 3-Minute Thesis Competition for RHD we referred students to UQ resources. Interestingly, my Masters of Philosophy student entered the competition last year because he said "I have confidence" to do this from this experience in LAWS7020.
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Dr O’Brien and I compared notes, moderated, and gave prompt written feedback. The feedback on the ‘pitch’ was like that given for a written research proposal but with oral skills also assessed. It enabled students to focus early in the semester on the research, well before classes ended, allowed feedback, and by seeing other approaches reflected on their own. It was an enjoyable afternoon and with tea & coffee at the completion. Creating avenues for student engagement in a social informal setting is good for international and domestic students as it creates a more ‘personalised’ dimension in the UQ Law experience. See international students.
Examples of 3MT Posters
