A Flipped Classroom Redesign in General Chemistry

The flipped classroom continues to attract significant attention in higher education. Building upon our recent parallel controlled study of the flipped classroom in a second-term general chemistry course (J. Chem. Educ., 2016, 93, 13–23), here we report on a redesign of the flipped course aimed at scaling up total enrollment while keeping discussion sizes small (i.e.,students), and maintaining equivalent contact hour load for faculty and workload for students. To that end, the course format featured lecture contact pushed outside of the classroom in the form of video lectures (mean duration 13 minutes) paired with online homework sets, and three parallel weekly one-hour discussion sections were held in adjoining lab rooms immediately prior to the three-hour laboratory session. As in our previous design, the discussion sections were led by teaching assistants; however, the weekly discussion meeting was shortened from 75 minutes to 50 minutes, and the primary instructor “floated” between the three parallel sessions. Two such sessions were held each week, affording a possible enrollment of 144; initial enrollment was 141, with students self-selecting into the course. We examine student performance in and satisfaction with the course using: (1) a pre-test/post-test design based on the paired questions American Chemical Society (ACS) first-term and second-term exams, (2) data on DFW (D, F, withdrawal) rates, and (3) student evaluations

Defamation and Political Comment in Post-Soviet Russia

The law of defamation in Russia has a long history. Its roots are in the European tradition, but the discontinuity of its historical development has meant that there have been particular difficulties in reconfiguring the law for the new human rights era following Russia’s accession to the Council of Europe in 1996 and ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights in 1998. Defamation law must now be been tested against the fundamental standards enshrined in the ECHR, to ensure that appropriate levels of protection are provided not only for reputation but, also, for freedom of expression. It has been left largely to the judiciary and judge-made law to manage this difficult transition. This article analyses the elements that make up the law of defamation in Russia and assesses the challenges that remain in adapting it to the twenty-first century.</jats:p