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Updated: Feb 22, 2026
10:17
Improving Student Outcomes with an Adaptable Molecular Cloning Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience
Published on: November 15, 2024
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Using a moot to develop students' understanding of human cloning and statutory interpretation
Shaun D Pattinson1, Vanessa Kind1
1Durham University, UK.
Medical Law International
|September 26, 2017
Summary
Engaging students in legal role-playing activities, like Supreme Court moots, enhances their understanding of complex socio-scientific issues, including the science of cloning and its ethical implications.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Science
- Bioethics
- Science Communication
Background:
- Law is a key societal mechanism for communicating values.
- Socio-scientific issues require interdisciplinary understanding.
- Biomedical advancements present complex ethical and social challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how legal processes can foster understanding of socio-scientific issues in students.
- To analyze the effectiveness of legal role-playing interventions in science education.
- To explore the intersection of law, science, and ethics in a learning context.
Main Methods:
- An interdisciplinary project over three years.
- An intervention study involving UK secondary school students (16-17 years old).
- Students participated in a Supreme Court moot simulating a case on cloned human embryos.
Main Results:
- Legal processes, such as Supreme Court moots, can enhance scientific and sociolegal understanding.
- Students' self-confidence and argumentation skills improved through role-playing.
- Misconceptions regarding cloning science were identified in both legal contexts and educational materials.
Conclusions:
- Moot-centered activities are valuable for science communication with post-16 students.
- Legal role-plays offer a unique pedagogical approach to socio-scientific issues.
- Despite judicial process limitations, these activities significantly aid student learning and skill development.
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