Beyond the Textbook: Using Comic Strips to Teach Business Law to Non-Law Students

Teaching Business Law to non-law students presents several challenges due to the nature of the subject which involves abstract concepts, complex terminology and students’ perception that the subject lacks relevance to their field. Traditional lecture-based approaches alone may be insufficient to sustain engagement or to assist their understanding of the complexities of business law. Hence, this article aims to explore the use of comic strips as a visual -narrative teaching tool to compliment the traditional lecture-based method. Using Dual Coding Theory (DCT) and Constructivist Approaches, it examines how comic may simplify the teaching of legal concepts, demonstrate the application of the legal principle in practice and accommodate diverse learning styles. The study involved 16 Business and Management students who had previously failed the course and the results showed improvement in their academic performance which provide preliminary evidence that the use of comic strip alongside conventional teaching may support the learning of Business Law among non-law students. The findings, however, should be interpreted as exploratory instead of causal because of the small, purposively defined sample and the absence of a controlled group. The study emphasised the potential of a meticulously designed multimodal teaching tools to make complex legal concepts more accessible while maintaining the accuracy of legal doctrine and the structural approach of legal analysis.

Business Law, comic strips, visual learning, non-law students, innovative multimodal tools, student performance

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