WHAT’S WHAT AT UNIVERSITY

Lecture. A lecture is a session where a weekly topic is delivered to students in that subject. At a bare minimum, all students are expected to engage with the weekly lecture material. Lectures for first- and secondyear subjects will usually be a two-hour lecture delivered by a lecturer on campus in-person. Lectures are typically recorded and uploaded to Blackboard. BlackBoard is being replaced by Canvas in 2023 and will have the same, if not similar, functionalities.

The Law School places heavy emphasis on student autonomous learning. As such, in third and fourth year, lectures will not occur in person and will usually be structured in more of a ‘podcast’ style delivery, with a number of short videos that relate to particular parts of a broader topic. These are typically pre-recorded and will be uploaded to Canvas each week or a few weeks in advance.

Tutorial. A tutorial is a class that goes for one to two hours. During a tutorial, students have the chance to workshop questions that test their knowledge of the weekly material. Law tutorials are where you will undertake the practical preparation for exams by way of answering problem scenarios in a special legal analytical framework called ISAAC ISAACs.

I = IDENTIFY ISSUE

S = STATE THE LAW

A = CITE AUTHORITY

A = APPLY THE LAW

C = CONCLUSION

Take note of visiting hours! This is where your lecturers (and sometimes tutors) will allocate a time each week to make themselves available for you to visit them in their office on campus and ask questions! Other ways of contacting your teacher during visiting hours may be via Zoom.

Readings. Readings describe the prescribed textbook pages or chapters, legislation and case law that is relevant to the weekly subject matter covered in your lectures and tutorials. These readings will be listed in a study guide and located inside a learning resources weekly tab in Canvas. In your first and second semesters, you will be taught in class how to read and interpret court cases and legislation. In later years, you will be expected to know how to read and understand cases and legislation by yourself. Do not be afraid to ask your tutors and the law librarians for lots of help! It is better to ask for lots of help in first year than it is in third year.

Workshop. Not every subject has a regular workshop on top of the scheduled lectures and tutorials. Nevertheless, a workshop is a further opportunity to *literally* workshop your knowledge and skills. In first year, you will likely encounter the Torts Peer Workshop program. You will also have several research workshops with the law librarians where they will show you how to do legal research using the databases that QUT has access to (for example, WestLaw and LexisNexis). Workshops will usually go for one to two hours in an intimate setting. It is very similar to a tutorial.

Workshops are more common in other degrees such as Creative Industries (double degree students, take note!).