Alternative Assessment in Undergraduate Legal Education in South Africa: A Positive Side Effect of the Pandemic?

• Citation: (2024) 35 Stell LR 21
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.47348/SLR/2024/i1a2
• Published date: 06 February 2025
• Pages: 21-39
• Author: Horn, J.G.
• Date: 06 February 2025

https://doi.org/10.47348/SLR/2024/i1a2

21

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT IN

UNDERGRADUATE LEGAL EDUCATION IN

SOUTH AFRICA: A POSITIVE SIDE EFFECT OF

THE PANDEMIC?

JG Horn

BProc LLB LLM MA (HES) LLD

Senior lecturer, University of the Free State

L van Niekerk

LLB PG DIP (FINANCIAL PLANNING LAW) LLM MA (HES)

Lecturer, University of the Free State

Abstract

The global Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a transition to online teaching and

learning, which prompted higher education institutions to reconsider their

assessment methods. Soon, implementing the most appropriate assessment

approach to encourage students to engage with the study material on an

ongoing basis and which would lead to a deeper understanding of module

content became an exciting challenge in the completely remote learning

scenario. Grappling with this challenge, lecturers in the Faculty of Law at the

University of the Free State implemented alternative assessment methods in

a Legal Skills rst-year module and a Law of Property third-year module. By

using the action research method to implement change, observe the change

and critically reect on the outcome, the authors report on the valuable

lessons that they have learned from this exercise. This contribution provides

an account of the benets and drawbacks of traditional versus alternative

assessment methods and a critical perspective on the practicality of using

alternative assessment tools in undergraduate programmes.

Keywords: Alternative assessment instruments; online learning; legal

education; continuous assessment; higher-order skills

1 Introduction

The immediate shift to distance and online teaching and learning necessitated

by the Covid-19 pandemic compelled higher education institutions (“HEIs”)

to rethink their assessment practices and instantly implement various

alternative assessment tools.1 Lecturers were required to rethink the way in

1 Alternative assessment tools in the context of this contribution are seen as assessment methods

other than the traditional assessment methods, such as in-person written examinations or tests,

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22 STELLENBOSCH LAW REVIEW 2024 1

https://doi.org/10.47348/SLR/2024/i1a2

which they deliver the educational experience.2 This occurred against the

backdrop of an already highly competitive higher education context, where

the competence and well-roundedness of graduates are closely linked to

institutional reputation and sustainability. At most HEIs, this demanded a

complete overhaul of the way in which assessment was conducted.

Keeping in mind that assessment is much more than a tool for certication

that measures or informs student learning,3 implementing the most appropriate

assessment approach that would encourage students to engage with the study

material on an ongoing basis and lead to a deeper understanding of module

content became an exciting challenge in the shift to the remote learning

environment. Authentic assessment is a valuable tool for student feedback

in order to provide students with the necessary appreciation of the skills and

knowledge that they will need in the workplace.4

Grappling with this challenge, lecturers of the Faculty of Law at the

University of the Free State (UFS) implemented alternative assessment tools

for students enrolled in a Legal Skills rst-year module and those enrolled

for a Law of Property third-year module as part of the LLB programme.

These modules were chosen specically because the former is a skills-based

module while the latter focuses more on black letter law. By using educational

action research as research methodology, the article will show how the authors

planned the changes in assessment, implemented the changes, observed the

results and, nally, reected on the results in a critical manner to improve

the assessment tools. This was a continuous project as the cycle started afresh

with each amendment to the assessment tools. The research spanned three

academic years. The aim of this article is to report on the lessons learned by the

lecturers from using alternative assessment tools in these two vastly different

modules. It provides an account of the benets and drawbacks of traditional

versus alternative assessment and a critical perspective on the practicality

of using alternative assessment tools in undergraduate programmes.

Ultimately, it also shows how the compelled pivot to online learning and

that are used in most law faculties. Other terms for alternative assessment include authentic

assessment, performance-based assessment and constructivist assessment. See S Dikli

“Assessment at a Distance: Traditional vs. Alternative Assessments” (2003) 2 TOJET 13 14.

2 CA Corcos “Legal Uncertainties: COVID-19, Distance Learning, Bar Exams, and the Future of

U.S. Legal Education” 8 CJCCL (2022) 71 113.

3 T Bourner “The Broadening of the Higher Education Curriculum, 1970-2002: An Ipsative

Enquiry” (2004) 36 Higher Education Review 39 46; RB Fletcher, LH Meyer, H Anderson,

P Johnston & M Rees “Faculty and Students Conceptions of Assessment in Higher Education”

(2012) 64 High Educ 120 133. See also CJ Denman & R Al-Marooqi “General Principles of

Assessment” in JI Liontas (ed) The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching (2018)

5021 and S Clarence, L Quinn & JA Vorster (eds) Assessment in Higher Education Reframing

Traditional Understanding and Practices (2015).

4 K Burton “A Framework for Determining the Authenticity of Assessment Tasks Applied to an

Example in Law” (2011) 4 Journal of Learning Design 20 28.

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