For the past two years, Queen’s undergraduate students have jumped at the chance to take LAW-201 Introduction to the Study of Canadian Law, a fall-winter course taught by Queen’s Law professors. This summer, the course will be offered online for the first time, and further expanded to an even wider audience of students from any Ontario university in the next winter semester.

Professor Mary-Jo Maur, Law’85, LLM’93, director of the online course is “thrilled” but not surprised that all 95 spots for the coming term were snatched up in only four days. “It tells me that students want a better understanding of Canadian law and politics,” she says. “You can think of an undergraduate degree as a way of helping students become involved citizens. Knowing something about the law is essential to becoming engaged in the big discussions going on in Canada right now.”

Like the on-campus course that blends classroom and web-based components, the online version will cover the major subject areas – constitutional law, criminal law, family law, torts, contracts and business law – as well as aspects of the legal profession such as ethics and legal reading and writing skills. The difference is that students in the blended course (to be offered as a one-term course each fall and winter starting in September) may interact in person with instructors, teaching assistants and each other, whereas all interaction is electronic in the online offering.

“I think students will discover that the online learning format is actually a very appealing way to learn,” says Maur. “Within the course timelines, each student can study at his or her own pace and will have a sense of being taught in a small setting. Our preliminary research revealed that students often report having a remarkably individualized experience through online learning.”

Queen’s students in Arts and Science, Commerce, and Engineering and Applied Science who have completed their first year of studies may register for the online or blended course. It would be of particular interest to students trying to determine whether they would like to pursue a legal education, to business and political science students who could benefit from legal background knowledge for their areas of concentration, and to any student wanting a deeper understanding of current events and politics in Canada.

“The course is fun!” exclaims Maur. “Legal stories are really interesting. As instructors, we have stepped outside the usual teaching box to find ways to present the course in a dynamic way that will capture students' imaginations and will invite them to express their views as they learn the basics of Canadian law.

“We are taking advantage of the wonderful technology available for online learning,” she adds, “and hoping that students will enjoy taking the course as much as we are enjoying putting it together.”