LLAW3242

General Course Information

1.1 Course details

Course code: LLAW3242
Course name: Dissertation
Programme offered under: LLB Programme [This course is only open to students on the UCL-HKU Dual Degree Programme]
Semester: Full year
Designated research course: Not applicable
Specialization: Not applicable
Prerequisites / Co-requisites: No
Course offered to non-law students: No
Credit point value: 12 credits

1.2 Course description

This course is about legal scholarship. Students will acquire the skills of effective legal writing and research, including: the selection of research topics and questions; planning and structuring research, developing an original thesis/argument, and engaging critically with legal scholarship. To these ends, students will produce a research dissertation, under the supervision of a faculty member and informed by their participation in a series of seminar sessions. Learning activities during the seminars will consist of discussing the goals and challenges of legal research and scholarship, presenting one’s own research topic/idea, and constructive engagement with others about their research. The expected word count of the dissertation is between 10,000 to 12,000 words.

1.3 Course teachers

Name E-mail address Office Consultation
Course convenor Stefan Lo stefanlo@hku.hk CCT 301A By email

Learning Outcomes

2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course

CLO 1 Produce a dissertation that conforms to University, Department, and course requirements in both subject and format.

CLO 2 Demonstrate a sophisticated appreciation of the elements of good legal research, including: posing good research questions, structuring and developing an original thesis/argument, and critical engagement with legal scholarship.

CLO 3 Work independently on a piece of substantive legal research.

2.2 LLB Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

Please refer to the following link: https://course.law.hku.hk/llb-plo/

2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course

PLO A PLO B PLO C PLO D PLO E PLO F
CLO 1
CLO 2
CLO 3

Assessment(s)

3.1 Assessment Summary

Assessment task Due date Weighting Feedback method* Course learning outcomes
Classwork N/A 10% 2, 3, 5 1, 2, 3
Dissertation 6 May 2024 90% 2, 3 1, 2, 3
*Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher)
1 A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle
2 Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle
3 Individual review meeting upon appointment
4 Group review meeting
5 In-class verbal feedback

3.2 Assessment Detail

To be advised by course convenor(s).

3.3 Grading Criteria

Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf

Learning Activities

Learning Activity Plan

Seminar: 4-5 meetings in semester 1
Private study time: 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks in each of semester 1 and 2

Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.

4.2 Details of Learning Activities

  • Four interactive seminars
  • Independent research
  • One-on-one consultation with the supervisor and/or the course convener

Learning Resources

5.1 Resources

Reading materials: The reading guide and selected reading materials will be posted on Moodle
Core reading list: TBA
Recommended reading list: TBA

5.2 Links

Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/