About Andrea Todd
Andy practised Employment Law in an international commercial law firm prior to moving into legal education.
She spent seven years at BPP Manchester as supervising solicitor for BPP’s pro bono clinic, Programme Leader for the Legal Practice Course and Principal Lecturer in Employment Law and Business Law & Practice.
Andy then fulfilled several academic management roles at the Open University (as Regional Manager) and INTO Manchester (as Academic Director) before joining the University of Chester in 2017.
Teaching
Andy is module leader for Employment Law, Company Law, Commercial Law and Law in Action.
Research
Andy’s areas of research interest are:
- Student voice and closing the loop on student feedback;
- The lived experiences of student-parents, and how HEIs can better support their student-parents;
- Students as co-creators of curriculum;
- Clinical Legal Education;
- Qualifying Work Experience and the Solicitors’ Qualifying Exam.
Published Work
Selected Conference Presentations
Todd, A. (2018) Listening, But Not Hearing? Closing the Loop on Student Feedback
Poster presentation, Advance HE Surveys & Insights Conference, 2018 (available on Advance HE Knowledge Hub here)
Todd, A. (2019) Student voice: The results of - and lessons to learn from - a pilot approach to closing the loop on student feedback
Oral presentation, Advance HE Surveys & Insights Conference 2019 (link to abstract) (link to conference slides via Advance HE Knowledge Hub)
(Link to Advance HE blogpost produced at the request of Advance HE)
Todd, A. (2020) A new framework for enhancing academic team buy-in to student voice mechanisms
Oral presentation, Advance HE Surveys & Insights Conference 2020 (link to abstract) (link to conference slides via Advance HE Knowledge Hub)
Todd, A. (2020) Making Module Evaluation Meaningful
Poster presentation, Advance HE Teaching & Learning Conference 2020 (link to abstract) (link to poster via Advance HE Knowledge Hub)
Todd, A. (2020) Making Commercial Law Students think Commercially: and how this aids Employability
Oral presentation, Advance HE Teaching & Learning Conference 2020 (link to abstract) (link to conference slides via Advance HE Knowledge Hub)
Todd, A. (2022) ‘Why are we not talking more about student parents?’ Student parents' experiences of the COVID year and what we can take from the crisis
Oral presentation, Advance HE Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference, April 2022 (link to abstract)
Todd, A., & Blackburn, L. (2022) Qualifying Work Experience in England & Wales: Help or Hindrance for Clinic Innovation?
Oral presentation, Association of Canadian Clinical Legal Education Conference, June 2022
Abstract: From September 2021, the time students spend advising in law clinics can be claimed as QWE. This paper will examine the reaction of the Clinical Legal Education (CLE) community in England and Wales to the implementation of QWE and whether QWE offers opportunities or threats when it comes to radical critique by law students.
Todd, A. (2022) Mum’s the word: How lessons learned from the COVID year can enhance our academic and pastoral support of students with children
Poster presentation, Advance HE Teaching & Learning Conference, July 2022 (link to abstract)
Todd, A. (2022) Citizen Students in Lockdown: Employability enhancement opportunities presented by the online environment
Oral presentation, Advance HE Teaching & Learning Conference, July 2022 (link to abstract)
Todd, A. (2022) Choose Your Own Adventure
Oral presentation, Clinical Legal Education Organisation Conference, September 2022
Abstract: This session will share the experiences of the presenter and her students in co-creating the learning outcomes, module coverage and assessment techniques for a new clinical module for the coming academic year. The session will explore students' views on what constitutes an authentic learning experience, what makes an assessment 'useful', and how students view the link between clinic work and their future working lives.
MacDowell, E, Odinakaonye, L., Terzian, N., Todd, A., Warner, B. (2022) Challenging Hierarchy and Encouraging Collaboration in Teaching, Learning and Practice: What Does it Look Like and How Can We Achieve it?
Oral Presentation, GAJE-IJCLE-SAULCA Worldwide Conference: Justice Education: Building Resilience and Strong Connections in Times of Global Challenges, December 2022
Invited Presentations:
Todd, A. (2020) Meaningful Module Evaluation: closing the loop on feedback from students
Presentation to PGCertHE cohort at Ravensbourne University London
Todd, A. (2022) Identifying and supporting student-parents: the Supporting Student-Parents Toolkit
Presentation to Connecting Legal Education (CLE) Community of Practice
Todd, A. (2023) Closing the Feedback Loop: how to design and implement a system that gives students confidence that their views are valued and acted upon
Presentation to members of the Unitu student voice platform
Reports, Guidance and Toolkits:
Todd, A. (2019) Staff Guide to Student Voice. Published 2019 via Advance HE Connect collaboration platform https://connect.advance-he.ac.uk/
Todd, A (2019) Student Guide to Feeding Back to Us. Published 2019 via Advance HE Connect collaboration platform https://connect.advance-he.ac.uk/
Todd, A. (2019) Student Voice Timeline. Published 2019 via Advance HE Connect collaboration platform https://connect.advance-he.ac.uk/
Todd, A. & Blackburn, L. (2022) Recording, Confirming and Registering QWE from University Law Clinics: A Ten Top Tips Toolkit for Student Volunteers, and Guidance on Completing the SRA QWE Template for Clinic Work. Published September 2022 via Clinical Legal Education Organisation at https://www.cleo-uk.org/
Todd, A. (2023) A Practical Toolkit: eight steps to identifying, supporting and celebrating student-parents
Published January 2023 via the Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
Books and Book Chapters:
Todd, A., & Conaghan, E. (2023). A Practical Guide to Embedding Commercial Awareness into your Curriculum. In Millmore, A. (Ed.), How to Include Employability in the Law School. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023. (forthcoming)
Journal Articles
Todd, A. (2021). Democracy in action: students as design partners, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (22). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi22.681
Todd, A. & Blackburn, L. (2023) Qualifying Work Experience in England & Wales: the opportunities and risks presented to university law clinics, Asian Journal of Legal Education, volume 1, Issue 10, January 2023 https://doi.org/10.1177/23220058221126654
Todd, A., (2023) Let’s get visible: evidence-based interventions aimed at supporting, empowering, and celebrating student-parents in higher education, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Special Issue
Todd, A. (2023) ‘What Is? What If? What Next?’ Why institutions must urgently identify, support and celebrate their student-parents – and imagining a world in which they do, Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
Qualifications
- MA Quality Enhancement in Higher Education Learning and Teaching (Distinction): University of Chester 2017-2018
- LLB (Hons): Law with European Legal Studies, University of Durham and University of Rouen, France: 1995-1999
- Legal Practice Course (Distinction): College of Law, Chester: 2000-2001
- Qualified Solicitor: 2003 to date.
Professional memberships:
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Co-Chair and Trustee, Clinical Legal Education Organisation (CLEO)
- Member, the Law Society
- Member, Employment Lawyers’ Association
- Member, Society of Legal Scholars
- Member, Association of Law Teachers
- Member, European Network of Clinical Legal Education
- Member, Global Alliance for Justice Education