Student Co-Creation and Industry Partnerships
Ashley Stasiewich
Student Co-Creation
Some chapters in this textbook were authored by students as part of their final assignment in LEGL 200: Paralegals and the Legal Environment, while others were created by students who volunteered their time or worked as paid research assistants. From the beginning, the goal of this project has been more than simply producing a textbook—it is about giving students a meaningful platform to contribute to their profession. This process provided an authentic learning experience, where students took ownership of their work and recognized that their final product would impact the broader legal community beyond the classroom (Lubicz-Nawrocka & Bovill, 2021, p. 1746). At its core, this project is about empowerment: by embracing open access legal information and creating space for students to shape the resources they and their peers will use, we can cultivate a stronger, more knowledgeable, and more effective legal profession—particularly among paralegals and legal assistants.
As the supervising instructor, I worked closely with students, often guiding them through several iterations of their chapters until we reached a product worthy of publication. My role was to oversee the process, edit for clarity and quality, and add an element of instructional design to make the content more engaging. The primary goal, however, was always to uplift future legal professionals by giving them both a platform and a published chapter to add to a growing body of information created by legal professionals for their own demographic. For this reason, I am listed as an editor and, in some cases, a secondary author. It is important to emphasize that I am not the author of each chapter—these students did the hard work. The bulk of the ideas, analysis, and writing belongs to them.
Note: As a result of student co-creation, the chapters in this textbook are designed to be read primarily as standalones and may not always transition seamlessly into one another. Developing the first eight chapters with students was a two-year process, which, as you can imagine, leaves some gaps in the coverage of legal research. My intention is to continue collaborating with students each year to refine existing chapters and add new ones. Consider this text a living document—one that will evolve and improve over time through multiple perspectives.
Industry Partnerships
Industry-focused chapters highlighting landmark cases and key legislation in different areas of law applicable to Alberta are currently in development through collaboration with industry partners. These chapters are intended to provide practical, field-specific perspectives that will complement the student-authored content already included in this text.
If you are a legal professional and would like to contribute to this ongoing project, please contact Ashley at stasiewicha2@macewan.ca to discuss how we can collaborate.
Reference
Lubicz-Nawrocka, T., & Bovill, C. (2023). Do students experience transformation through co-creating curriculum in higher education? Teaching in Higher Education, 28(7), 1744–1760. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1928060
