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In a flipped classroom, students engage in active learning during class time and have individual informationtransmission outside class time. University students need to complete the pre/post-class activities to fully benefit from flipped classroom. It is important that teachers adopt practical methods including teacher-student out-of-classroom communication (OCC) to help students manage their time effectively and stay on task. This research examines the practice of OOC in a flipped first-year postgraduate Business Law course at an Australian university that comprises a large overseas student cohort. By means of a questionnaire, the researcher collected data about student perceptions of OCC, their motives for engaging in OCC, and the change of the motives in a flipped classroom. Student demographics, online participation, and academic performance data were exported from the university database. The student answers, participation, and performance were measured and compared with t-tests. The preliminary results show that in a flipped classroom, students were more motivated to engage in OCC. Moreover, the short-term online participation improved for the students who were communicated by the teacher outside classroom. However, an analysis of the data indicated no statistically significant difference in students' academic performance. In the concluding sections of this paper, the limitations of this study are acknowledged, followed by several recommendations for future research.

The legal studies teaching methodology IRAC (issue, rule, application, conclusion) is widely used in universities by both law and business schools. This paper examines the effectiveness of IRAC from a teaching perspective and its usefulness for business students. Data is generated from an Australian university case study using teacher interviews and a student survey. The findings suggest that, because of its flexibility and logical structure, the practice of IRAC has become normalised. However it is only effective if teachers disseminate these features consistently in their teaching. Students in the study understood the usefulness of IRAC for classwork, but encountered application difficulties in assessment tasks. Although the study sample is limited, legal studies teachers in other tertiary and secondary settings can benefit from the findings, and the recommendations that periodic reflection and greater collaborative efforts are required when using IRAC to progress students' legal studies skills.

Three novel rhenium N−heterocyclic carbene complexes, [Re]−NHC−1−3 ([Re] = fac−Re(CO)3Br), were synthesized and characterized using a range of spectroscopic techniques. Photophysical, electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical studies were carried out to probe the properties of these organometallic compounds. Re−NHC−1 and Re−NHC−2 bear a phenanthrene backbone on an imidazole (NHC) ring, coordinating to Re by both the carbene C and a pyridyl group attached to one of the imidazole nitrogen atoms. Re−NHC−2 differs from Re−NHC−1 by replacing N−H with an N−benzyl group as the second substituent on imidazole. The replacement of the phenanthrene backbone in Re−NHC−2 with the larger pyrene gives Re−NHC−3. The two−electron electrochemical reductions of Re−NHC−2 and Re−NHC−3 result in the formation of the five−coordinate anions that are capable of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. These catalysts are formed first at the initial cathodic wave R1, and then, ultimately, via the reduction of Re−Re bound dimer intermediates at the second cathodic wave R2. All three Re−NHC−1−3 complexes are active photocatalysts for the transformation of CO2 to CO, with the most photostable complex, Re−NHC−3, being the most effective for this conversion. Re−NHC−1 and Re−NHC−2 afforded modest CO turnover numbers (TONs), following irradiation at 355 nm, but were inactive at the longer irradiation wavelength of 470 nm. In contrast, Re−NHC−3, when photoexcited at 470 nm, yielded the highest TON in this study, but remained inactive at 355 nm. The luminescence spectrum of Re−NHC−3 is red−shifted compared to those of Re−NHC−1 and Re−NHC−2, and previously reported similar [Re]−NHC complexes. This observation, together with TD−DFT calculations, suggests that the nature of the lowest−energy optical excitation for Re−NHC−3 has π→π*(NHC−pyrene) and dπ(Re)→π*(pyridine) (IL/MLCT) character. The stability and superior photocatalytic performance of Re−NHC−3 are attributed to the extended conjugation of the π−electron system, leading to the beneficial modulation of the strongly electron−donating tendency of the NHC group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]