Does the PEC Learning Model actually work?

The PEC Model is structured into three stages: prepare, engage, and consolidate. For the prepare stage of my PGDL modules, which takes place ahead of workshops, I'm usually required to complete preliminary reading, attempt practice questions before finishing with a multiple-choice test. This means that workshops - the 'engage' stage - aren't simply spent learning the law, but actually engaging with concepts at a higher level, whether through class debates or working on practice questions with my peers. Then finally, to transfer all of this knowledge from my short-term to long-term memory, I have the consolidate stage. This is my own time to spend revising the material, using additional online activities and a final multiple-choice test (ready for my SQEs next year!). If I have any questions, I'm always able to discuss queries with my peers or my lecturer.
 

I will admit, there were times during my undergraduate degree where I'd turn up to a class that I wasn't exactly prepared for. Often, lecturers would instruct us to read an article or chapter from a book and leave us to it - there were never any activities to check we actually understood the material, and it was unfortunately quite possible, if you wanted, to go through a class without having to speak up at all. This meant that, by the time it came to exams and essay deadlines, many students often crammed research in up until the final moments, desperately trying to refresh their memory and praying that they had applied their knowledge correctly. By the time feedback was released, it was quite easy to have forgotten what it was that you had actually written.
 
I have never had this experience at ULaw. Though students are by no means forced to speak up, the fact that we come to classes adequately prepared and are in a truly collaborative environment means many of us are happy to get involved. And, by actively engaging with the subject and practice questions, it becomes so much easier to retain knowledge ready for exams (and believe me, with the PGDL, there is no time to be forgetting things!). However, the PEC model isn't only important at a university level. Coming to a matter prepared is excellent practice for future employment - while a knowledge of the law is also key, the time management and study skills we are learning now are crucial for success as future lawyers.
 
You can find out more about the PEC Model by watching the video here (https://www.law.ac.uk/about/quality-of-teaching/).
 
Holly
PGDL Student at The University of Law