Past Teaching and Tutoring
I have 3+ years teaching experience – two years in philosophy of law (Centre for Excellence in Philosophy) and one in judicial decision-making (assisting Prof Cheryl Thomas at UCL Laws). Additionally I have a certification as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. If you would like to discuss any tutoring or teaching collaboration write to tutoring@dianarichards.co.uk.
I have been tutoring LLM students since 2012, at UCL, tutoring 5 generations. I am also a private tutor for London Expert Law Tutors, tutoring LLB and LLM students. Some of my students’ feedback:
It was pleasure and I thank you for your valuable comments and quick responses. I must appreciate that your feedback was very comprehensive and encouraging. Well, I have had an amazing experience from this relationship as you didn’t leave any stone untouched in helping me in all possible manner.
I would like to thank you for your collaboration this summer with my dissertation. I found it extremely helpful in my writing process. The email suggesting how to structure the dissertation was especially helpful as I have never written a paper of this length before. It was really effective guidance for me and really gave me peace of mind for my work. Meeting with you was also really great, it reassured me that my work was organized and good quality which gave me the confidence I needed for my paper. Your insight into the topic was also really helpful as well not only for the dissertation but my future in the field. I really appreciate all your help and it really got me through the process of completing the dissertation.
Thank so much for assistance this summer! It really helped me because I was kinda lost before I contacted you. Thank you again 🙂
Useful Tools in Legal Research - Legal Skills Training
I trained 200+ LLM students on the most useful research tools and software they could use in their research activity. In my teaching I used cutting-edge tools such as Electronic Voting Systems and pre-training surveys. I have gathered a database of useful tools for 9 areas of research activity and I’m constantly on the lookout for more:
- online legal databases and libraries
- taking notes, writing down ideas, sketching outlines
- writing drafts, papers, thesis chapters
- online collaboration, communication and brainstorming
- online courses and e-learning
- referencing and citation
- research dissemination
- networking
- and other sources of information.
If you are a legal researcher or a legal professional – please give me a sense of what you use in your own daily activity, so I could advise our students better. It only takes 4 minutes.
Online collaboration tools
- Dropbox 83.33%
- Google Docs 33.3%
- Google Hangout 22.2%
- Skype 22.2%
E-learning platforms used
- Moodle 61.11%
- iTunes U 16.67%
- Coursera 16.67%
Referencing tools used
- Zotero 38.89%
- Endnote 27.78%
- Mendeley 16.67%
These are preliminary results. Please do not cite without permission.
Teaching Areas
I am very comfortable with teaching the following subjects:
- Judicial Studies – an interdisciplinary review of empirical socio-legal research done on judges and courts around the world;
- Empirical Research Methods (both qualitative and quantitative);
- Jurisprudence (especially legal positivism, natural law theory, legal realism, influences from other social sciences);
From the Foundational courses, I am happy to teach:
- Criminal Law/Criminology;
- The Structure of the English Legal System (or any comparative subject);
- Constitutional Law;
- Alternative Dispute Resolution.
In addition, I can offer a wide range of generic skills training for LLB, LLM and research students:
- Legal research and note-taking;
- Referencing;
- Essay and dissertation preparation;
- Exam preparation (incl learning styles);
- Conference presentations;
- Publications and wider work dissemination;
- Building a strong academic profile;
- Academic job-hunting.
You opened the session with great poise. You stood very nicely and engaged the audience. The start was compelling. You had good eye contact with the group and a pleasant, welcoming manner. This was excellent as you had such dreadful problems with the IT which was a great pity but these things can happen. You managed the situation with great ease which was admirable. […] I thought the structure of the session was well planned and carefully presented on a clear slide. […] The session was both instructive and enjoyable for all. You will be able to use your organisational skills to great advantage in your teaching to ensure that participants get the space for engagement and active learning. Congratulations on a well-run session.