Business law for non‐lawyers: Setting the stage for teaching,learning and assessment at Hong Kong Polytechnic University

SCALE-UP is an acronym for Student-Centred Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies. The term upside-down pedagogies refers to a flipped or inverted classroom approach that is characterised by flipping teaching and learning responsibilities; instead of students first hearing a lecture and then doing homework, students can watch a lecture or otherwise prepare for class at home and then practise what they have learned in class. This paper discusses active learning strategies and how legal education can utilise such approaches, explores how studio classroom design can facilitate such strategies, describes the configuration of a Scale-Up classroom, provides exercises that can be incorporated into such a learning space, and elaborates on the advantages and disadvantages of the use of the pedagogy in a redesigned learning space. It concludes that requiring students to complete some practical exercises in class, participate in discussions with peers, or work on assignments where the lecturer has some input, may engage students in the learning process, encourage them to attend class and to accept more responsibility for their learning.     

案例教学法在卫生法学教学实施中的误区及解决策略

案例教学法在部分院校的卫生法教学实施中取得了良好的效果,但其教学设计、教学实施及教学反思环节仍存在误区。应当在以学生为主的教学理念和重视双向交流原则的指导下,通过精选教学案例、营造良好的课堂教学氛围、规范教学步骤来完善教学设计环节,通过突出学生学习的实践性和关注案例所涉知识面的扩展来重构教学实施环节,通过重视对本次案例教学法适用的总结反思和对整门学科适用案例教学法质量的检测来关注教学反思环节。     

A preliminary study into the impact of using three-dimensional models in forensic anthropology learning and teaching

Forensic anthropology has traditionally relied on two-dimensional (2D) images, such as photographs and sketches, to perform analyses, and disseminate findings. However, as 3D imaging technology advances, it has become more widely implemented into forensic anthropology analysis and practice. Teaching and learning in forensic anthropology still often relies on 2D images, but increasingly three-dimensional (3D) models are available to be used by students training in anatomy and osteology. Additionally, 3D models have been found to be beneficial to comprehension in other contexts within forensic anthropology, such as in the courtroom. The use of these models in the teaching of forensic anthropology is not yet widely implemented and more importantly, the impact on learning is not yet understood. The use of 3D imaging and visualisation in other educational contexts has seen positive results, for example in medical training. To explore this further, a study was conducted using an online activity to compare the comprehension scores of students educated using 2D textbook style images or 3D models on Sketchfab. The results showed that the use of 3D images was not detrimental to comprehension. Students using the 3D models were more consistent in their performance and reported an increase in confidence regardless of prior experience. The results of this study are of particular importance when distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic which means that students cannot always learn in a laboratory environment.     

Implications of electronic developments for distance and face to face learning. Ten statements on the use of electronics in law teaching

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the teaching of legal professionalism in Ireland using interview data from the principal stakeholders in the legal profession education system including students (the trainee solicitors). The data was analysed phenomenographically in order to determine the extent to which there was variation in perceptions among these stakeholders as to what professionalism means and how best to teach or instil the notion. The findings indicate diverse perceptions among stakeholders that reflect a lack of shared understanding of professionalism and how to teach or instil professionalism. The study critically discusses the findings in light of relevant literature and concludes that a coordinated approach to understanding and fostering professionalism will help bridge this gap in perceptions and raise professional standards.     

Embedding employability in assessment: searching for the balance between academic learning and skills development in law: a case study

Employability related indicators and measurements are now a fact of life for UK law schools. Despite the omnipresent spectre of the employability agenda, there has been relatively little consideration given to the relationship between assessment and employability. The traditional teaching method used at law schools relies heavily on participatory small group teaching. This lends itself to developing oral communication skills. Surveys of employers show oral communication to be one of the most highly valued employability skills. Research, however, suggests that law students do not feel that oral communication skills are given enough emphasis on law programmes. Using the example of a new approach to assessment of the European Law module at the University of Bolton, which adopts an oral assessment alongside a traditional written exam, consideration is given to the benefits and practicalities of embedding employability in assessment. The extent to which this approach can be reconciled to liberal ideals is considered alongside pedagogical rationales for the assessment. In the final section, the article goes on to analyse student feedback on their perception of different assessment methods and employability. The article concludes by suggesting that, by focusing on pre-existing features of a liberal legal education, employability can be successfully embedded in assessment.     

Delaney and the Motor Vehicle Insurance Directives: lessons for the teaching of EU law

A recent series of cases relating to the EU Motor Vehicle Insurance Directives and their application in the UK makes for interesting reading. It is the UK’s negligent transposition, and a lack of knowledge and awareness by lawyers and judges in the cases of the interaction between domestic and EU law, which compounds the negative effects. The issues raised in Delaney v Pickett [2011] and Delaney v Secretary of State [2014] do not just generate concern as to the implications they have for the application of EU law principles, but have resonance with the way in which EU law is taught in many universities. In this article we suggest that reconsidering the method and purpose of EU teaching may better serve the EU-lawyers needed for the future.     

The prediction and control of organized crime: A risk assessment instrument for targeting law enforcement efforts

Linking isolated instances of organized crime in a systematic way can inform law enforcement in identifying high-risk activities and markets and prioritizing them according to objective factors known to be associated with organized crime. There are five ways in which risk assessment organized crime can be achieved. Improvements to data collection, utilizing a team approach to gather information, identifying common elements in organized crime incidents, understanding the parameters of a risk assessment instrument, and connecting organized crime risk assessment to the implementation of law and policy are practical ways in which organized crime activity can be better anticipated, investigated, and prevented. Connecting isolated incidents to organized crime through better information from offenders, victims, and police is possible with teams of investigators, researchers, and analysts. An organized crime risk assessment tool is presented that offers systematic analysis of opportunity factors, the criminal environment, and harm potential among the seventeen risk factors identified. Risk assessment can be used to evaluate the influence of organized crime in local jurisdictions, and the impact of new laws and policies that affect commerce and criminal opportunities.     

Assessing the relevance of self-reported ADHD symptoms and cognitive functioning for psychopathy using the PCL-R and the TriPM

Psychopathy and ADHD are highly comorbid disorders, possibly linked to the underlying trait of impulsivity. It is therefore likely that ADHD symptoms are also of importance when studying cognitive functioning linked to psychopathy. Few studies of psychopathy and cognitive functioning have taken ADHD symptoms into account. In this cross-sectional study, male offenders (n = 201 of whom 105 were neuropsychologically tested) were recruited from all high security correctional facilities in Sweden. The aim of the study was to investigate if self-reported ADHD symptoms and cognitive functioning could predict specific subcomponents of psychopathy in offenders. Results showed that self-rated ADHD symptoms (ASRS) and psychopathy were highly correlated. Furthermore, the associations of ASRS and PCL-R Facet 3, as well as TriPM Disinhibition, were remarkably high. As expected, ASRS was not related to either Facet 1 or 2 of the PCL-R, or to TriPM Boldness. Cognitive functioning did not contribute in predicting psychopathy beyond the effect of ASRS. The high overlap in reported symptoms highlights the importance of thorough clinical assessments to be able to distinguish psychopathic personality traits from ADHD and lessen the risk of misdiagnosis. Further, it points to the need of finding discriminative measures possibly linked to etiological underpinnings.     

Population studies of the Y-chromosome specific polymorphisms DYS19, DYS389 I + II, DYS390 and DYS393 in a western German population (Bonn area).

Population studies were carried out on the Y-specific short tandem repeat (STR) systems DYS19, DYS389I + II, DYS390 and DYS393 in a Western German population sample. Determination of the allele frequencies revealed for all these systems, unimodal distribution. The number of observed alleles varied: five for DYS19, six for DYS390, three for DYS389I, seven for DYS389II and six for DYS393. In 102 unrelated male individuals, 56 different haplotypes were found. The haplotype diversity values were similar to those of other European populations.     

The Principle, Politics, and Finances of Introducing Academic Merit as the Standard of Hiring for "the teaching of law as a career," 1870–1900

Compared to the practice in other professional schools and academic fields at universities, law professors are hired at a young age based primarily upon their academic merit determined through grades, class rank, and school rank. This emphasis upon narrowly defined academic merit—apart from achievement demonstrated through original scholarship or experience in professional practice—first emerged during "the professionalization of the American law professor" between 1870 and 1900 at Harvard Law School (HLS). Though normative today, this outcome was neither necessary nor uncontested. In the late nineteenth century the new standard of hiring faculty according to their academic merit was energetically opposed by those favoring the antecedent standard of professional experience and reputation. Only when financial considerations counterbalanced that traditional standard did hiring decisions tip in favor of the new principle. Not until the early 1900s, when the second generation of academic meritocrats dominated the HLS faculty, did the new hiring standard become unequivocally established as policy in the school and, by extension, in legal education.     

Clarifying the complex chemistry of cobalt(II) thiocyanate-based tests for cocaine using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic techniques

Cobalt(II) thiocyanate-based tests are routinely used to screen cocaine products, with the formation of a blue species interpreted as a positive response. An array of other organic bases has been identified as false positives – including well-documented cocaine product adulterant lidocaine and its salt. False positives prompt continued test development, though improvements are hindered by unresolved product structures and reaction pathways. Toward greater clarity, cobalt(II) thiocyanate reactions with cocaine hydrochloride, along with lidocaine and its salt, were investigated using multiple analytical techniques. Reactions involving cocaine hydrochloride yielded glassy, amorphous blue material while reactions of lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate produced larger, needle-like crystals whose structure was determined via single-crystal X-ray diffraction to be an ion pair (Hlidocaine⁺)₂([Co(SCN)₄]²⁻)·H₂O. While the blue precipitate isolated from reactions involving cocaine hydrochloride was unsuitable for crystallographic structure determination, comparative ultraviolet–visible, attenuated total reflectance infrared, and Raman spectroscopic analysis – along with elemental analysis – supports that this solid is comprised of a comparable ion pair (Hcocaine⁺)₂[Co(SCN)₄]²⁻. Pink crystals isolated from lidocaine reaction vessels were identified as coordination compounds cis-[CoL₂(SCN)₂] and trans-[CoL₂(SCN)₂] where L = lidocaine, while pink crystals from both cocaine hydrochloride and lidocaine hydrochloride monohydrate reaction vessels were the coordination polymer trans-[Co(H₂O)₂(SCN)₂]·H₂O. The results presented herein enable reaction optimization to favor a desired product, whether ion pair or coordination species.