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Le Brun, Marlene --- "Gaming Contract Law: Creating Pleasurable Ways to Learn the Law of Contract" [2003] MurdochUeJlLaw 5; (2003) 10(1) Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law

Gaming Contract Law: Creating Pleasurable Ways to Learn the Law of Contract

Author: Marlene Le Brun BA (Hons), JD, MEd, LLM
Consultant, Australian National University Legal Workshop
Issue: Volume 10, Number 1 (March 2003)

Contents:

Acknowledgements: This article is based on work to which a number of individuals have contributed. The funding for the project would not have been secured without the generous support and encouragement of the Dean of Law, Professor Michael McConville and the patience of Adeleine Lau at CELT, City University. My gratitude is extended to my six law students, without whose assistance this CD-ROM would not have been produced, Arthur Cheuk, Yvette Lam (and her dog Purdy), Agnes Leung, Ryan Ng, Kevin Tang, and Sarah Wong. I also wish to extend my sincere thanks to research assistant Priya Rao, who, together with Arthur Cheuk, helped me conceptualise the operation of the game and to Crusher Wong and his IT team who produced the website in Contract Law, which complements the CD-ROM. Hearty thanks are also owed to Alice Chan who kindly agreed to test the site, made recommendations for its operation by Chinese users, and who organized reproduction of the CD-ROM, together with Amy Lau, David So, Mi Cheung, and Helen Suen. My appreciation is given to Wendy Forster at The Australian National University who proofread the article and to Fabian Serena who captured the photos that appear in this article. Thank you all.

Finally, I wish to congratulate and thank the staff of Launchpad Multimedia, who, as always, have produced a package of which I am proud in a time almost shorter than a whisker. Thanks again Peter, Renee, and the team.

    Introduction

    The consensus among many educators is that depth of understanding is fostered by an active approach to learning and by forging the links between theoretical and practice aspects of (a) subject. For this to be possible, students must have access to more than just the articulation of knowledge in the form of books and lectures.[1]

  1. I teach contract law with gusto, yet I readily admit that few of my students have become passionate about the subject, despite the central role that contract plays in life and despite my best attempts to make the subject fascinating. Approximately five years ago I began creating flexible learning materials in law. Since then I have come to appreciate the possibilities that information technology holds to enhance student learning of law. After producing a well-received video-and-question-based CD-ROM in legal ethics and professional responsibility[2] and a useful website/CD-ROM for teaching law students how to conduct an initial client interview and counsel clients,[3] I decided that I needed to do something to enliven and deepen the learning of the students enrolled in my contract law classes. But I didn't know what to do. Six of my students at City University of Hong Kong helped me solve my problem.

  2. In this article, I describe the CD-ROM game package, 'Adventures in Contract Law' that I produced with the assistance of students and colleagues at City University and with Australian-based Launchpad Multimedia,[4] and I briefly consider how games can be used to enliven the learning of other areas of law. Even though the product that my team and I created is Chinese in look and feel, I believe that the package - and the concept of developing online games to enhance student learning in law -may well be of interest to users outside of southeast Asia.

    Background to the Project: Developing a Website and Companion CD-ROM

  3. In 2001, City University of Hong Kong appointed a new Dean of Law. Part of Professor Michael McConville's vision for the Law School involved encouraging academic staff to produce online learning products. Originally, I had hoped to be able to further develop and customise the contract law module contained in the newest edition of the IOLIS package, which is a sophisticated CD-ROM educational tool. However, I knew that I first had to determine IOLIS' suitability for use by an overwhelmingly young Chinese student audience. Although the six students who comprised my project team at City University who reviewed IOLIS praised the package, they did not feel that it suited their needs and interests. Rather than refine IOLIS, they wanted to create something special, a product custom-made for Hong Kong users.

  4. After considerable discussion, we decided to create a website-CD-ROM companion package on contract law. Although I had developed a stand-alone CD-ROM and two websites before this project began, I had yet to develop a website-CD-ROM complementary package. But I was ready for a new challenge. After seeking advice from various IT sources, I decided to update and expand the WebCt website that I had produced for contract law students at City University and create from 'scratch' a complementary CD-ROM. The website would continue to host the materials that would require regular updating, while the CD-ROM would be designed to become the site for more innovative, longer-lasting educational materials that did not require regular amendment. However, because I had decided to leave Hong Kong to return to Australia after funding for the project was secured, I had little time within which to complete the entire companion package.[5]

  5. Since I would not be teaching contract at City University again, instead of developing a more ambitious website that the new teacher of contract law might choose not to use, I decided to focus my attention primarily on the development of the CD-ROM. Although I imagined that the package would form part of an integrated resource, I believed that the CD-ROM would be of greater use to the students, in light of my departure. I also hoped that the creation of an innovative online educational package, such as a board game, would encourage other law teachers to consider how to use IT to teach law more creatively.

    The Users of the Website and the Design of the CD-ROM

  6. In order to appreciate the aims, objectives, and design of the website and the CD-ROM, one needs to understand the likely users of the companion website-CD-ROM package. When I designed the contract law website and the CD-ROM, these factors were uppermost in my thinking.

  7. Two institutions offer undergraduate (LLB) degrees in Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong. Currently, the LLB in Hong Kong is a three-year undergraduate programme offered, on the whole, along the traditional English model of legal education.[6] Surprisingly, lectures and tutorials are standard fare in Hong Kong law classrooms (despite the numerous attempts that have been made to reform the teaching of law and the law school curricula).[7]

  8. After completion of the LLB, many students (some as young as 20) complete a post-graduate legal training programme that will enable them to be admitted to the practice of law as a solicitor or barrister in due course. Thus the law programme of study has parallels with both English and Australian legal education. And like England, and Australia, most students who enroll in these LLB programmes in Hong Kong have been raised in Hong Kong and are, what Americans would describe as, high school graduates. A few are as young as 16.

  9. Despite these obvious similarities, the quality of the intake into the university law schools in Hong Kong differs from law schools in Australia and England. Many well-qualified students who live in Hong Kong prefer to study law overseas. As a result, unlike in Australia, for example, where law is a popular and highly sought after degree, law schools in Hong Kong do not always attract the students with the highest entry scores or candidates whose age and maturity can ease the (at times, difficult) transition that is involved in moving from school to university studies.

  10. This problem is compounded because City University and the University of Hong Kong are English-language institutions, even though the majority of students' mother tongue is Cantonese. Not surprisingly, therefore, English language capabilities are, on the whole, lower than one would find in a native English speaking country. This lack of fluency in English, and for some students, a lack of worldliness,[8] can pose challenges that law teachers in Australia and England, for example, do not face.

  11. Nevertheless, despite these differences, many of the students enrolled in Hong Kong law schools are very sophisticated indeed, much like their Australian and English counterparts. They are avid mobile phone users, keen computer game players, and lovers of 'ICQ,' hotmail, cartoons, and the like. Almost all are very comfortable using and learning from computers. Since many law students work part-time, flexible learning resources are appreciated, as they are by many students in Australia and England. However, because investment in IT and the level of IT support is high in Hong Kong, academics in Hong Kong universities can more easily secure funding and support to create innovative IT products than they can in Australia or England.

    Funding the Project and the Project Team

  12. City University provides solid and reliable technical assistance for individuals who want to develop courses for online delivery. This service was crucial to the development of the educational package. In order to be able to put together a team to produce the website and the CD-ROM companion package, I applied for and was awarded a Quality Enhancement Fund grant from the University. With this money and some additional discretionary funds at my disposal as Director of Student Learning, I hired six law student research assistants. I invited two students from each three years of study to join the team. The student team comprised three women and three men with ages ranging from the teens to the late-twenties. Even though the students had diverse abilities and interests, they were very enthusiastic about the project. In addition, I employed one graduate research assistant, Priya Rao, during the last few weeks of project development in Hong Kong and post-graduate student Alice Chan, who agreed to see the project through to reproduction in Hong Kong.

    The Contract Law Website

  13. Over the past two years I had developed a limited-access basic WebCT website for contract law. This limited-access website includes the normal WebCT functions (notes, handouts, calendar, etc). As part of the grant-funded project, a newer website was designed to complement the WebCT site created in 2000. The new website includes a contract law glossary that students can use to write their own definitions for key words in contract,[9] a virtual library that is connected to the law library at City University,[10] and one additional game that helps students reinforce their contract law vocabulary and enhance their English language skills ('Find a-Word').[11] Originally, both the website and the CD-ROM were to be uploaded to the City University website the last week of June 2002 in preparation for the commencement of classes in autumn 2002. My departure from Hong Kong in June 2002 changed these initial plans.

  14. Since I knew a bit about web design and development from my earlier projects and since I had a general idea of what I wanted to achieve in the website, the website development part of the project was easy. However, I did not know what I wanted to do with the CD-ROM - except I knew that I wanted to create an innovative, interactive, and fun CD-ROM for students studying contract law. At the conclusion of our first proper project team meeting in which my team and I considered what we would like to create, I asked the students to go away and come back with creative ideas on how we could design a product about which contract law students in Hong Kong would be excited. They did.

  15. Their responses were as humorous as they were creative. After much discussion and considerable laughter (one of the students wanted to develop a 'Hang-the-Judge' game, which I vetoed), I seized on an idea that the three women had. They wanted to create a board game[12] - in particular, one with about five sites where students could answer a question and amass or lose money. I knew the concept could work, given the Cantonese love of fun and games of chance. With this basic concept in mind, I went to Australia where I met for about three hours with the Launchpad Multimedia team before returning to Hong Kong to commence the design of the game in earnest with the assistance of my student team.

  16. Given the sophistication of games today, I knew that high tech effects and sophisticated game programming were essential, provided they came within budget. I chose, once again, to work with Launchpad Multimedia, even though they are based in Australia and I knew that all our 'meetings' except the first would most likely be conducted on-line.[13]

  17. Launchpad were able to take the project from my initial conception through to completion of the master disk. They designed the artwork for the sleeve, and they liaised with the individuals in Hong Kong who agreed to reproduce and package the final product locally after my departure from Hong Kong.

    Using Games to Teach Law

  18. To date not much has been published in academic journals about the use of sophisticated games in conventional law classrooms, although one does hear on occasion of interesting games created by lone academics, often working in the USA.[14] Thus it is not surprising that little has been written about the production and use of computer games in legal education. Despite this dearth of information, there is some very interesting work taking place, particularly in Glasgow Caledonian and Strathclyde Universities. Blackie and Maharg write about 'The Delict Game' that they created in Scotland:

  19. The Delict Game is a program designed to enable students to learn particular aspects of the law of delict (tort), and to do so by practising a number of skills. The program takes the form of a negotiation between two groups of students, one group acting on behalf of pursuer (plaintiff) and the other acting for the defender (defendant). The groups communicate with each other using email and a HyperNews discussion forum. Students access documents relevant to the scenario and use these in the negotiation. A third group of students may act as judges or arbiters and assess the quality of the case presented by the legal agents for both sides. The progam is sited on the Clyde Virtual University at Strathclyde University and from there can be accessed by both staff and students.[15]

    The CD-ROM

  20. Below I describe the CD-ROM product that my team and I created for contract law students at City University. As any user can testify, game-playing is at the very heart of the CD-ROM. The CD-ROM contains two main games: one crossword puzzle, and a board game. The board game comprises two mini-games: 'Contract Law Explorer' and 'Agnes' Adventures in Contract Land.'[16] The crossword is of standard format. The board games are a mixture of 'Monopoly' and 'Candy Land,' two games that I loved to play as a child.

  21. The main educational goal of the CD-ROM is to enhance student learning of contract law by providing students with a fun way to learn. The CD-ROM is designed to supplement and complement student learning of contract law by bringing the teaching of the subject into the modern world, a world in which students are keen game players and sophisticated IT users, and by encouraging students to do more than just learn from classes, the textbook, and the web.

  22. The specific learning outcomes of the package, written for users, are:

    The Crossword Puzzle

  23. A crossword puzzle forms a small part of the CD-ROM package. The crossword specifically tests students' basic contract law vocabulary and knowledge of some areas of contract law and, to a lesser extent, tort, and restitution and enhances their English language abilities generally. [18]

    The Board Game

  24. The heart of the CD-ROM is a board game that can be played at five levels of difficulty; levels 1-4 comprise the mini-game entitled 'Contract Law Explorer;' level 5, the most advanced of the five leves, is entitled 'Agnes' Adventures in Contract Land' - the parallels with 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' are not coincidental.

  25. The main aim of the two mini-board games is to become Chief Justice of Hong Kong. To become Chief Justice, a student must play and win 'Contract Law Explorer' and 'Agnes' Adventures in Contract Law' without suffering any 'setbacks.' If the student gets certain questions wrong, s/he is 'imprisoned' in (the virtual) Stanley Jail and is disqualified from joining the bench of the Court of Final Appeal, the highest court in Hong Kong, and becoming the Chief Justice. The disqualifying questions raise basic ethical issues in contract law (eg asking whether the player will draft an illegal exclusion clause).

  26. In 'Contract Law Explorer,' students choose the level at which they wish to play. The game is played at four levels, ranging from 'beginner' to 'proficient.' If the student chooses Level 1, only beginner-level questions will appear on the computer. If the student chooses any other level, questions from that level and levels below will appear at random.

  27. 'Agnes' Adventures in Contract Land' differs from 'Contract Law Explorer' in several ways. 'Agnes' Adventures' contains the most difficult questions, and it also includes a storyline with a cast of 'virtual' characters. The core cast includes my six project team students plus hypothetical friends, family members, and villains. The story for 'Agnes' Adventures' unfolds over a four-day period. All questions in 'Agnes' Adventures' relate to this cast of characters, some whose photographs are captured on the board game and on the cover of the CD-ROM.

  28. Both board games commence at the market town north of City University, Tai Po Market, and end at the Court of Final Appeal on Hong Kong island. City University itself is located in Kowloon Tong, on the Chinese mainland north of Hong Kong island. The University is one thread that ties the story together.

  29. The student who plays the board games must visit 21 sites[19] and progress through three maps (maps of the Kowloon peninsula, Hong Kong island, and Lantau) to complete each mini-game. Thus, a successful student player of the game will begin the game at Tai Po on the Kowloon peninsula, move south crossing Victoria Harbour to central Hong Kong, and then navigate clockwise around Hong Kong island, with a small detour at the marina, located south of Hong Kong Island, to Lantau Island.

  30. At each site the student is asked to answer one multiple-choice question. Each question has five possible answers. As 'Agnes' Adventures' is designed for level 5 questions, as noted above, the most difficult hypothetical and theoretical questions are contained in this mini-game.

  31. The sites sites are well-known and loved places in Hong Kong. Each site is identified by a graphic icon that is characteristic of the location (eg a picture of a tram for the tram to the Peak; a picture of a horse for the racecourse at Happy Valley, a picture of the Post Office in central Hong Kong for the post office).

  32. Since five questions have been written for each of the five game levels, the games comprises a total of 525 multiple choice questions. Thus students can play the game at different levels several times without being asked the same question. Since the students win money if they answer questions correctly and lose money if they do not, and since 'hazards' have been built into four locations in the game, [20] I anticipated that the game will have to be played several times before the student player can win the entire game (ie both mini-games) and become Chief Justice of Hong Kong.

    The Questions and the Sites

  33. Most areas of the common law of contract (agreement, terms, termination and discharge, and remedies) and central contract law cases[21] appear in questions in the board game; however, the questions are not limited solely to specific traditional contract law cases, principles, and rules. Students consider issues of contract law theory, for example, by answering questions about the writings of Atiyah, Frug, and Fried, and they also are asked to reflect on the interface between contract, tort, and restitution. In addition, students are asked to provide strategic advice to 'client's who consult them. For example, Agnes' very expensive frock is damaged by a dry cleaner with whom her parents have done business for many years. The student player of the game is asked what course of action s/he would recommend were Agnes to seek the student's legal advice (eg sue immediately, negotiate). To give another example: student players are asked to consider the drafting of exclusion clauses and are questioned about the appropriateness of the scope of some exclusion clauses that are presented.

  34. The questions themselves range from 'define, describe' type questions, though recognition of case names and facts, to basic hypothetical questions. All questions relate in some way to the location that is depicted on one of the three maps and to the story that is told in 'Agnes' Adventures in Contract Land.'[22] To illustrate: all questions at site 1 in Tai Po village raise the topic of intention to contract. In levels 1-4 of 'Contract Law Explorer' the student player is asked a range of questions about intention. In'Agnes' Adventures,' by way of contrast, the student player is told a story about the photograph that is included on the CD-ROM below the question that is asked. The photograph in site 1 depicts the (fictitious) home of Agnes' grandparents. The voiceover story starts with, 'Once upon a time there was a young woman named Agnes.' It continues on to explain why the day on which the game starts is special (It is Agnes'21st birthday and Valentine's Day and Agnes hopes to be able to enforce the promise that her grandparents made to her many years ago). Text questions ask whether certain promises are contractual in nature. Thus, at the same time as the student player works through the questions in 'Agnes Adventures,' s/he is also told a story about Agnes and her friends as they journey around Hong Kong together.

  35. To provide coherence and structure to the game, all the questions in the game are tied conceptually, if occasionally somewhat loosely, to something related to the site depicted on one of the three maps. For example, questions about instantaneous and non-instantaneous modes of communication are raised at the site of the post office on Hong Kong island. Questions about frustration are raised at the site of a marina. To illustrate the connection between the site and the topic in contract in greater detail: while at the marina site, Agnes and her friends wish to rent a boat to travel to Lantau to visit the house that Kevin and his wife Sylvia are renovating. If the student player answers the question asked at the marina site accurately, the student wins money and the game 'moves' from the map of Hong Kong to the map of Lantau Island. If the student player's answer to the question is wrong, a (3-D) typhoon cartoon appears in an inset box and the typhoon blows the boat off course. The student player is penalised financially and forced to return to a previous site and start again.

  36. Questions also relate to facts raised in central cases in contract law. For example: questions about part performance are asked when the student player visits Lantau Island. In 'Agnes' Adventures,' the student player answers specific questions about the renovations that Kevin and Sylvia are making to their island house. Student players are also asked to apply their knowledge of case law to advise Kevin and Sylvia what they should do when the renovations to their house go wrong.

  37. Although the bulk of the questions centre around common law cases and principles, a few questions about Hong Kong legislation, and to a much lesser extent, English legislation, are included so that students review what they know about legislation and so that they remember the importance of legislation today.[23]

  38. Even though the questions raised in 'Agnes' Explorer' relate directly to the six students who are depicted in photos at almost all of the map sites, other characters are introduced as the game proceeds. Thus we meet Sylvia again at the bank site where she and Kevin are applying for another loan to complete the renovations on their house at Lantau. Questions about vitiating factors are raised at this site, in particular those related to 'sexually transmitted debt.' We also meet the occasional villain who tries to tempt Agnes and her friends away from acceptable forms of behaviour.

    Winning the Game and the Award of Prizes

  39. The prizes awarded to the student player correspond with the level of difficulty that the student selects when the game begins. In 'Contract Law Explorer,' the student can choose to play the game at one of four levels of difficulty. The amount of money awarded for answering a question correctly depends on the level of difficulty chosen. For a correct answer to a question at Level 1 the reward is HK $1,000; for Level 2 it is HK$3,000, and so on. As the questions in 'Agnes' Adventures' are the most difficult, the amount of money given in this mini-game is the highest.

  40. The prizes awarded for money that is amassed by answering questions correctly correlate with the court hierarchy of Hong Kong. In order to retain student interest and motivation in playing the game, players can win prizes at each level of the game if a sufficient number of questions are answered correctly. If they are not, the player loses and must play the game again until s/he completes the game successfully. Each student player must answer 18 questions correctly to amass enough money to purchase the robes of the judge or justice of the appropriate court. To illustrate: if players enter at Level 1 of 'Contract Law Explorer,' their goal is to become the Chief Magistrate, at Level 2 to become the Chief Judge of the District Court, at level 3 to purchase the attire of a judge of the Court of First Instance, and at level 4 to purchase the attire of a justice of the Court of Appeal. If the student plays only 'Agnes' Adventures in Contract Law' without experiencing any setbacks, the goal is become a justice of the Court of Final Appeal. The student can only become Chief Justice of Hong Kong if s/he has won both 'Contract Law Explorer' and 'Agnes' Adventures in Contract Land' without suffering any setbacks. But, as in most games, hazards have been included that can either impede or hinder the student's progress.

  41. The game, like contract law itself, is not punishment-oriented, however. Originally I had hoped to be able to include a mechanism in the game so that students could increase their winnings by 'judicious' betting at appropriate sites (eg the Happy Valley Racecourse), thereby catering for the love of gambling that is characteristic of many of the people Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the tight timeline for completion of (and limited budget for) the project prevented the inclusion of this feature.

    The Maps and the Effects

  42. Since the board game covers three geographical areas of Hong Kong (the Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong Island, and Lantau Island), three two-dimensional maps were created by Launchpad for student players to 'travel on.' To indicate the location of the sites and keep the game 'pacey,' graphics and animations were created and sound and voiceovers recorded from scripts that I wrote. Since I wanted to make the game Hong Kong-specific, my students and I visited all but a few of the 21 sites to take photographs, many of which appear on the CD-ROM board game and on the cover of the CD-ROM.

  43. Launchpad created a prototype of the Kowloon map of the game so that I could see how the game might look and feel. Once we agreed on the appearance of the prototype, I sat down to continue writing questions, text, instructions, and scripts that were used by Launchpad; Launchpad continued working on the design of the maps and the operation of the game. Launchpad also was busy at that time writing a programme that allows student players to view their progress and print the questions and their answers so that they can track their progress and use the print-out for examination preparation. This immediate feedback enhances learning and increases motivation. Launchpad also included a 'save' function so that student players could return to the game at their convenience. Finally, Launchpad created the prizes (the judicial 'wardrobe') [24] and other effects from pictures that I gave them.[25] The Hong Kong Tourist Board also supplied a few of the pictures that are used in the CD-ROM and Yvette donated photos of her dog and her mother's mah-jong game and table.

    Assumptions and Non-Negotiables

  44. Deciding how the game would operate proved more challenging than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, some assumptions about the game stayed constant, and were I to produce a similar game again, say, for another jurisdiction, I would adopt these operational premises, customising them to local conditions where appropriate.

Concluding Thoughts

  • This project taught me again of the importance of working with a good team. Unfortunately, despite the support and encouragement that I received, the project did not achieve its full potential - too little time and money.[29]

    What Was Planned ...

    Distribution and Use

  • After testing that the CD-ROM was operational, at the end of 2002 I asked Launchpad to send the master to City University for reproduction and distribution. One-thousand copies have been pressed. All students enrolled in contract law at City University and all those who participated in the production of the CD-ROM have been given a copy of the game, free of charge.

  • I have yet to hear how the game has been received in Hong Kong by the current law students enrolled in contract law. Some of the team members who helped me produce the CD-ROM have emailed me, however, telling me how delighted they are with the end product. Certainly I am pleased with the initial reception that the CD-ROM has received in Australia.

  • Whether the CD-ROM is attractive enough to be adopted and used in other jurisdictions remains to be seen. Since the package was developed for a younger audience than is typical of some first year graduate law programmes in other parts of the world (eg the USA), its gaming structure may prove less appealing. Nevertheless, since many of the central cases in contract law in Hong Kong are English cases, students of the common law might find the game educationally valuable as well as fun to play.

    Adapting the Current Board game

  • Even though the game is clearly Hong Kong in focus, look, and feel, the concept of developing an online board game along the lines of the one that my team and I produced may be attractive to academics in other jurisdictions. The board game itself can be customised to suit local conditions and local law. The current 525 questions can be edited (and can be increased/decreased in number) very easily. Digital photos can be taken and uploaded to the maps to replace those of my students and new maps can be drawn and icons created so that the game is local in appearance. If a story is needed, a new tale can be written, a new voiceover recorded, and a new wardrobe drawn, thus customising the entire board game.

    'Gaming' Law

  • Perhaps of broader appeal than the actual game itself is the idea of 'gaming' generally. Games can be developed to enhance the learning of law in subject areas other than contract. The scope for development is considerable, given what can now be achieved in today's online environment. Certainly, the more we produce online learning tools and write about what we have learned from our experience, the more sophisticated and suitable our future initiatives will be. For example, one could create an online board game to enhance student learning of debtors' and creditors' rights and bankruptcy. Student players could choose whether to be a debtor or a creditor at the commencement of the game. As the game proceeds and as the debtor makes investment decisions, the creditors respond. Student 'debtors' could be required during the progress of the game to develop strategies for remaining solvent, for example as traders in the market, thus minimising the risk of bankruptcy and protecting the assets of the creditors.

  • When I completed the legal ethics CD-ROM in 2000, I was assured by Peter Weyand at Launchpad that my next project would be easier to complete. Weyand's advice has proved correct on two occasions already. The contract law CD-ROM is the third flexible learning product that Launchpad have produced with me. Instead of fretting over technology issues, as I did in my first CD-ROM and my first website, this time I worried about how to create a game that students would want to play which would help them learn contract law and want to learn more about contract law. As I am not a player of non-athletic games, I found producing any game at all for an audience much younger than I a major challenge. This is where the input of my student project team was crucial in the formative stages of the game. The students gave me feedback on board layout, navigation, and the like. However, as the game was still under construction after the academic year ended, I lost the benefit of their advice at a time when I needed it. Fortunately law student Arthur Cheuk and post-graduate research student Priya Rao were available to discuss with me how an actual game offered online might be played. Their insight proved invaluable - both of them are young and both are avid game players. Thus they were well placed to give me some ideas of what student users' would find enjoyable and of educational value.[30]

  • As project team member Sarah Wong wrote when asked to describe the project,

    Our goal (as members of the project team) and mission is for students to appreciate contract law as part of their lives and to take pleasure in their learning process.

    We hope that the students at City University are doing just that, supported by their teachers and armed with their books, their website, and now their very own contract law CD-ROM game.

    Appendix 1

    The story told by voiceover in ‘Agnes’ Adventures in Contract Land’ takes place over four days. It involves adventures by my six law student team memebrs as they travel around Hong Kong. The topics raised at each site relate loosely to the storyline.

    Site Location

    Topic

    1. Apartment block in Tai Po on the Kowloon peninsula (where Agnes, the central character, awakes on her 21st birthday which is also, coincidentally, Valentine’s Day)

    intention to contract, honour clauses, letters of comfort

    2. City University (where Agnes meets her law school friends)

    consideration

    3. The flower market (where Anges’ friends buy her flowers for her birthday)

    privity, collateral contracts, trust, tort

    4. The hotel (where Agnes goes for a ‘pamper package’)

    damages generally, damages for mental distress

    5. The Clock Tower (where Agnes and her boyfriend Ryan meet to celebrate her birthday and Valentine’s Day)

    terms, time clauses

    6. The Star Ferry (where the 6 law students meet to travel to Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon peninsula)

    terms, liquidated damages, penalty, indemnity and exclusion clauses, contra proferentem, deposits vs part payment

    7. The Newsagent (where the students buy a horse racing guide to prepare for betting at the Happy Valley races)

    puff, invitation to treat, offer, advertisements, cross-offers, ‘battle of the forms,’ unilateral vs bilateral contracts

    8. The tram (which the students use to take them to the races via the - )

    terms, ticket cases, parol evidence rule

    9. Shops (the mall at Pacific Place) (for lunch and a spot of shopping)

    certainty, bait advertising, inertia selling, offers versus …

    10. Happy Valley races (where the students try their luck at the races)

    acceptance by silence, contractual capacity, damages for loss of chance, illegality

    11. Ocean Park (an amusement park where the students spend some of their winnings)

    damages, equitable remedies and limits to their award, relationship between contract and tort, exclusion of negligence

    12. ‘Jumbo’ (the famous floating restaurant where the students have dinner before they…)

    performance, discharge, accord and satisfaction, breach, consideration, promissory estoppel

    13. The marina (take a boat trip to Lantau Island to spend the night with Kevin and his wife Sylvia)

    frustration

    14. Lantau Island (where the students rest and refresh in the clean air of Lantau before heading off the next day to … )

    performance, conditions precedent and subsequent, entire contracts rule, quantum meruit

    15. The market (for some food shopping and browsing)

    mistake, misrepresentation

    16. The post office (where Yvette posts her letter for a reward for the return of her dog Purdy)

    acceptance generally, instantaneous and non-instantaneous forms of communication

    17. The bank (where Kevin and Sylvia ask banker Anthony for more money so they can complete the renovations to their house on Lantau Island)

    undue influence, duress, unconscionability, non est factum

    18. The Mid-Levels (where Yvette’s dog Purdy is found)

    rewards, specific performance, breach

    19. The Peak Tram (where the 6 students meet up again for a walk)

    duress, rescission

    20. The auction (where the students give Agnes advice on how to spend her birthday money)

    auctions, tenders, referential bids, mistake, misrepresentation

    21. The Court of Final Appeal (where the 6 students meet at the end of the academic year before they go out to celebrate their achievements)

    aims of contract/tort/restitution, wasted expenditure/bargain/reliance, traditional vs modern law of contract

    Notes

    [1] The Dearing Report, 1997, para 8.3.

    [2] The CD-ROM is entitled, 'Ethics, Conscience, and Professionalism: Rediscovering the Heart of Law.'

    [3] The website/CD-ROM is entitled 'You and Your Client: The Art of Legal Interviewing.' A template has been created from this package and donated to the International Client Counseling Competition. The package is available to law teachers who coach teams in client interviewing and counseling. It has been designed so that users can create their own videos using a basic digital camera and tripod and upload them to the template/website. Once the template is uploaded in website form, it can be accessed easily by student competitors.

    [4] Launchpad Multimedia is based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia but undertakes multimedia work for clients outside Australia.

    [5] I estimated that the entire project would take one year; I had less than six months to complete the CD-ROM because of my decision to resign from my position. The final editing and testing of the CD-ROM took place in fits and starts after my return to Australia.

    [6] Plans are underway to offer a four year law LLB degree at City University.

    [7] Sadly, it appears that the most recent attempt to reform legal education in Hong Kong is destined to fail. Similar and valid criticisms can be made about the curricula that are offered at the two universities.

    [8] Some of my project team memebrs had never circumnavigated the island of Hong Kong. Some other law students who live in Kowloon have never visited Hong Kong island, which is a subway ride from Kowloon.

    [9] The terms are taken from the materials that I prepared for my contract law classes. Students can also add their own words and definitions to the glossary and print the entire word list.

    [10] The virtual library was produced under my direction by research assistant Priya Rao.

    [11] Techniques for improving English language skills are an integral part of legal education in Hong Kong. Instructors are expected to teach in English even though most students' native language is Cantonese. This is why I chose to emphasise English vocabulary in the WebCt site and in the CD-ROM.

    [12] See the 'Delict Game' described in J Blackie and P Maharg, 'The Delict Game,' http://www.bileta.ac.uk/98papers/blackie.html. See also R Widdison, M Aikenhead, and T Allen, 'Computer Simulation in Legal Education,' http://www.bileta.ac.uk/98papers/widdison.html.

    [13] In fact we had only two face-to-face meetings, one before the design of the CD-ROM commenced in earnest, the second about 4/5s of the way into the project.

    [14] For example using 'jeopardy' to teach civil procedure.

    [15] Although the word 'game' is used to describe Blackie and Maharg's package, one might well wonder if the word 'game' is sufficient to describe their innovation.

    [16] The name is an obvious take-off from 'Alices' Adventures in Wonderland.' The voiceover storyline in 'Agnes' Adventures' opens with the corny yet well-known, 'Once upon a time' and concludes with '... and they lived happily ever after in other countries.'

    [17] Many of my first year students at City University know little about the geography of their home district, like other law students whom I have taught.

    [18] Sarah and Yvette started work on the puzzle which I completed with the assistance of Arthur and Ryan.

    [19] 'Agnes' Adventures in Contract Law' opens on the day of Agnes' 21st birthday, which is why the game is played at 21 locations.

    [20] The 3-D cartoon hazards include: a shark attack of the Star Ferry at the harbour crossing from Kowloon to Hong Kong island; an attack by a tiger at Ocean Park; being swept away on a yacht in a typhoon (at the marina); and an attack by a dragon at the entrance to the Peak Tram.

    [21] Thus we consider questions about central (and often beloved) cases such as Balfour, Boots, Byrne, Hedley Byrne, Butler, Carlill, Chaplin, Cutter, Hadley, Pao On, Raffles, Roscorla, and Williams v Roffey, just to name a few.

    [22] In the appendix, I list the range of topics raised in the questions.

    [23] To illustrate: questions are asked about selected Hong Kong legislation (eg the Limitation Ordinance (Cap 347), the Unconscionable Contracts Ordinance (Cap 458), the Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) Ordinance (Cap 23), the Misrepresentation Ordinance (Cap 284), and selected English legislation (eg the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999).

    [24] I wish to thank City University colleague Tony Upham for his assistance with identifying appropriate judicial wardrobe.

    [25] Some of the photographs depicted on the CD-ROM were taken on digital camera and sent by jpg file to Launchpad. Some were scanned and sent. Others were posted to Brisbane.

    [26] City University teaches contract law to students in other undergraduate disciplines (eg business, building).

    [27] Thanks to Peter Weyand at Launchpad for this suggestion.

    [28] In retrospect, I think I was probably overly optimistic here.

    [29] This was disappointing. Considerable time was lost because of cumbersome university administrative procedures.

    [30] In the end I made a number of decisions about how the game would operate, based on one lunch time meeting in which Arthur, Priya, and I 'nutted out' a game strategy. What was interesting was how we worked on different assumptions about the operation of the game. Arthur and Priya both assumed that the students would answer all five questions that were written for each site per level of difficulty. Launchpad and I assumed that the students would answer one question per site per level of difficulty.

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