Open book examinations: modifying pedagogical practices for effective teaching and learning

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, law schools in England and Wales hastily moved their learning and teaching and assessments online to ensure that students could continue with their studies with the least amount of disruption to their education and schedules as possible. One consequence of this emergency change was that, although assessments were now online and (mostly) un-proctored, they became open-book examinations (OBEs) in the process. Unfortunately, because of the short timescale in which these changes had to be implemented, there is a risk that these OB examinations are assessing closed-book examination (CBE) pedagogy. This article argues that if academic staff retain pre-existing learning and teaching materials, initially designed for CBE, but then examine students by OBE, this will only bring the disbenefits of both CBE and OBE; academic staff need to review the design, assessment, guidance, formative assessments, and delivery of modules to ensure that they align with this mode of examination. This article provides some guidance for law schools on these matters drawing on the pedagogical theory on OBE.