The virtual happy hour for contract law students: reflecting on an unplanned transition.

Lauterbach, Thorsten; Fulford, Heather; Agnew, Mia

Abstract

The restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic forced university teachers to switch to an online delivery mode. Students signed up for in-person delivery became distance learners overnight. Whilst both teachers and students quickly became familiar with technology such as MS Teams and Zoom, this unplanned transition to online learning brought with it concerns about student health and wellbeing, particularly of first-year undergraduates. One of our challenges as educators was to find ways of building a trusting and empathetic learning community in a virtual learning context. In this chapter, we report on the launch, during COVID, of a weekly "Virtual Happy Hour" (VHH) designed as part of a contract law module to provide a forum for touching base with students, checking on progress, and, through fun activities such as quizzes and games, to build confidence, reassurance and rapport during a time of change and uncertainty. We reflect on the efficacy of the VHH initiative, and note how these weekly online sessions made an important contribution to sustaining motivation, social health and wellbeing of students and staff alike. Looking ahead, we explore the value of continuing this kind of supportive touchpoint initiative as we transition again to in-person teaching and/or blended learning.

Citation

LAUTERBACH, T., FULFORD, H. and AGNEW, M. 2023. The virtual happy hour for contract law students: reflecting on an unplanned transition. In Jones, E. and Strevens, C. (eds.) Wellbeing and transitions in law: legal education and the legal profession. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan [online], chapter 5, pages 87-106. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27654-5_5

• Online Publication Date: Aug 9, 2023
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Aug 24, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 10, 2025
• Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
• Pages: 87-106
• Book Title: Wellbeing and transitions in law: legal education and the legal profession
• Chapter Number: Chapter 5
• ISBN: 9783031276538; 9783031276569
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27654-5_5
• Keywords: Online learning; COVID-19; Collaborative autoethnography; Self-reflection
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2048838
• Contract Date: Aug 31, 2022