McMaster University in Canada is often cited as the pioneer and world-class leader for problem-based learning (PBL) which was developed in the medical school in the 1960s. Using the ‘case approach’ to drive learning (rather than consolidate previous learning - whether practical or purely theoretical) is more accurately, if not awkwardly, termed “small group, self-directed, self-assessed PBL”.
The UKCLE has some resources on PBL for the law curriculum, many of which will be used in discrete parts of the LLB across the country, but York appears to be taking the McMaster approach to the entire curriculum and re-designing the student experience:
During much of the course, you will be based in student law firms where the primary learning will take place. You will decide what the firm will be called, how it will operate and how work will be divided within the firm.
Your firm will deal mainly with simulated real-life problems brought to you by virtual clients, which will be the primary device through which you will learn the law. These will be supplemented by large-group plenary sessions, which will provide overviews of specific topics or discuss selected issues in greater depth.
Each firm will be guided through its learning by‘facilitators’ who will be there to help you through the process, to illuminate particular points and to give you regular feedback on your progress. In many situations you will have to interact with other firms, sometimes working alongside them, sometimes working in opposition. You will form strong relationships with your firm, adapt to working with people with different strengths and weaknesses and thereby learn to work in a team, tackling problems in a realistic way.
I write this blog post on the train home from York as, along with Chris Ashford from Sunderland, I’ve just presented at a departmental seminar for the fledgling York Law School. Chris and I discussed some of the e-learning tools that can be combined with problem-based learning: mainly discussion boards and blogs. The issue of reflective learning brought Twitter and Facebook into the discussion as some of their PBL groups (acting as law firms) have voluntarily set up Facebook sites and some even invite their tutors to what is essentially their own private space. Of course, the concern over whether students will use blogs (or other resources) for true reflection is ‘will they be honest’ when they know staff can also view; and conversely, do we know that they are being reflective if it’s done in private?! I’m yet to be convinced by Twitter (quote from friend: Twitter is an abomination and almost entirely without merit - suited to insecure techo-geeks who lack confidence and social skills), although I can see a benefit to a PBL group who may wish to know ‘what I’m doing at the moment’ – not reflective learning, but a useful communication tool!
Killian & Company, we're all starting to lose interest, and perhaps our students can be added, along with jurors, to the low-attentive YouTube audience at the bottom of this graph. Perhaps the Courts are still in the Dickensian era (despite recent attempts to 
