Item 8.2 Slide Presentation

A Statutory interpretation EXperience: Putting the SEX into statutory interpretationProfessor Des Butler (Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow)James Duffy Dr Elizabeth Dickson

Faculty of LawQueensland University of TechnologyCRICOS No. 00213J1

2Student thoughts about statutory interpretationStatutory Interpretation is for many people a boring subject Statutory Interpretation can be dry and boring when reading a textbook It would [be] very difficult, for me, to have had to learn statutory interpretation entirely theoretically.LLB101 Introduction to Law (lectures)Three lectures on legislation and statutory interpretationActs Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth)Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld)Intrinsic materialExtrinsic materialSyntactical presumptionsLLB101 Introduction to Law (tutorials)Three tutorials on statutory interpretationEach week we provided students with a piece of legislation and a set of factsTypical question: Advise X whether they have breached section 5 of the Bore Students to Death Act 2013 (Qld).Tutorial questions get progressively trickier as the weeks progressSome questions involve real legislation, others involve fictional legislationLLB101 Introduction to Law (tutorials)Regardless of how cool and edgy our questions were, student engagement was still an issue.

Indigos Folly

Authentic voiceInterview with Boddice J

Prologue video

Reclaiming the Patch

Bringing in the CrowdsPigeon ProblemsStarting with a Bang

Rufus the RatFloor of FireBollywood Killjoys

Twisted Security9

Traditional approach

10

Bringing in the Crowds

11Traditional approach

Rufus the Rat

13

Bollywood Killjoys

14

Student response (n= 184)It helped me to engage with the skill of statutory interpretation more than I think I usually would.It encouraged me to think about the skill of statutory interpretation more than I think I usually would.It helped me to see the real world relevance of the skill of statutory interpretation.It helped me to understand the skill of statutory interpretation in real world practice16

Student responseIt helped me gain a better understanding of statutory interpretation in practice than I would have done from solely text-based questions using different and unrelated short fact scenarios.I enjoyed using Indigos Folly as part of my studies.17

Student responseI realised the extent to which legislation impacts the lives and choices of ordinary people. That helped to give a broader context to my studies. I realised how important it is to master the skill of statutory interpretation.It was engaging. It was motivating. It was unlike any other tool I have used to learn. The program allowed me to maintain interest in statutory interpretation. The program also allowed me to really question and understand statutory interpretation. The idea of an interactive program allowed me to WANT to learn.It wasn't a ridiculously made-up story, it was something that we could possibly be asked to advise on in the future. This made engaging in the program easier and made statutory interpretation easier to recall, as I had a real-life situation I could apply/relate rules to.I thought it was a great interactive way of learning. Statutory Interpretation is for many people a boring subject but this module spiced it up a bit. For the first time in a while, I actually enjoyed logging on and doing the required work.[I] could pretend I wasn't really studying.

18Student responseWhich of the following do you think best describes your learning style?19

Blues146109.3