The Faculty of Law at the University of Trier educates approximately 1,500 students. The aim of the programme is for students to successfully pass the first law examination, also known as the first state examination.
The course is generally considered challenging, largely due to the subject matter, which is often perceived as dry. Students also face a number of other challenges, such as:
- large, unwieldy volumes of material determined by the state examination boards and subject to regular changes
- conservative teaching methods by lecturers, often without the use of digital media
- a vast array of supplementary learning materials, which burden students with the additional task of selecting and organising information whilst studying the subject matter
The most demanding phase of the course is exam preparation, which follows the foundation year. Ultimately, only the marks from the first law exam count towards the degree and future career, which is why the exam preparation phase is of central importance. This and other challenges put students under pressure, frustrate and demotivate them, which in the worst case leads to dropouts. However, they also damage the reputation of law studies – currently, a smaller proportion of school leavers are choosing to study law than in the past.
To help alleviate some of these moments of frustration for students, we aim to ease their workload when it comes to organisation and course selection, and – setting aside grades – to motivate them to achieve more in their studies and exam preparation. At the same time, to harness the potential of digital media, we aim to develop an app that helps students organise their studies and provides them with emotional support in a playful way through direct feedback on their academic performance.
Initially, the app is intended solely for students who are in the demanding final stage of their studies: exam preparation. This lasts approximately one to one and a half years and requires a high degree of self-organisation, discipline and resilience from students.
To support and train students in self-organisation and self-motivation, the app pursues the following objectives:
- Organising daily study routines using digital tools such as timetables, reminders, check-ins, etc.
- Generating statistics to track learning progress
- Rewards in the form of achievements or similar
