Flipped classroom is a hybrid educational format that shifts guided teaching out of class, thus allowing class time for student-centered learning. Although this innovative teaching format is gaining attention, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of flipped teaching on student performance. We compared student performance and student attitudes toward flipped teaching with that of traditional lectures using a partial flipped study design. Flipped teaching expected students to have completed preclass material, such as assigned reading, instructor-prepared lecture video(s), and PowerPoint slides. In-class activities included the review of difficult topics, a modified team-based learning (TBL) session, and an individual assessment. In the unflipped teaching format, students were given PowerPoint slides and reading assignment before their scheduled lectures. The class time consisted of podium-style lecture, which was captured in real time and was made available for students to use as needed. Comparison of student performance between flipped and unflipped teaching showed that flipped teaching improved student performance by 17.5%. This was true of students in both the upper and lower half of the class. A survey conducted during this study indicated that 65% of the students changed the way they normally studied, and 69% of the students believed that they were more prepared for class with flipped learning than in the unflipped class. These findings suggest that flipped teaching, combined with TBL, is more effective than the traditional lecture.

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A great deal of interest has emerged recently in the flipped classroom (FC), a student-centered teaching approach. After attending a presentation by the first author on the FC, a faculty member of a medical school in Mexico arranged for a 3-day workshop for 13 faculty members. The goal of the workshop was to train faculty to use the FC strategy in their classrooms to increase student engagement in learning. The workshop was in the FC style, where the participants would assume the role of students. Pre- and posttraining surveys were administered to examine participants’ current teaching practices and to evaluate their perceptions of the FC. The participants overwhelmingly reported the need to change their lecture-based teaching, as it was not engaging students. Their large class size, lack of technology, training, and uncertainty of the effectiveness of new teaching methods had hindered participants from changing their teaching technique. The on-site training not only allowed the entire department to work closely and discuss the new teaching approach, but also reinforced the idea of changing their teaching strategy and embracing FC teaching method. After the workshop, participants reported being determined to use the FC strategy in their classrooms and felt more prepared to do so. The post-survey results indicated that participants valued the FC training in the flipped style and wanted more of the hands-on activities. In conclusion, the 3-day faculty workshop on the FC was successful, since every participant was motivated to use this teaching method.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rice University canceled classes for the week of March 9–13, 2020 and shifted all instruction to online only following spring break. For the second half of the semester, animal physiology was taught exclusively over Zoom. Here we describe how a flipped teaching format that was used before the pandemic eased the transition from face-to-face teaching to online instruction. The preclass preparation resources and the active learning materials that were already in place for flipped teaching were helpful in the transition to solely online teaching. Therefore, the focus during the transition was to reconfigure active learning and examinations from the face-to-face format to the online platform. Instead of small group discussions in the classroom, teams interacted in Zoom Breakout Rooms. Rather than taking exams in-person during scheduled class time, students submitted exams online. Additionally, students prerecorded their project presentations instead of presenting them “live” during the last week of classes. Overall, students felt that the class smoothly transitioned to a remote only format. These and other changes to the instructional methods will be implemented during the Spring 2021 semester when the course is taught fully online.

The occurrence of pellagra in an endemic form in a population subsisting mainly on the millet jowar (Sorghum vulgare) has been briefly reported by Gopalan & Srikantia (1960). Both jowar and maize have one common feature with regard to their amino acid composition, namely a high content of leucine. The possible role of amino acid imbalance resulting from a relative excess of leucine in the pathogenesis of pellagra was therefore suggested. In the present investigation the effects of the oral administration of leucine on the metabolism of tryptophan and nicotinic acid have been studied. METHODS Experimental procedure. Six patients suffering from pellagra (pellagrins) and six apparently normal male adults, between the ages of 25 and 45 years, formed the subjects for the study. They were kept in hospital and put on a standard diet, based on rice, wheat flour, dhal and vegetables, providing them with approximately 2300 kcal., 50 g. of protein and 50 g. of fat/day. The protein was derived entirely from vegetable sources, and constituted about 8 % of the total calories. Preliminary studies had indicated that the urinary excretion of some nicotinic acid metabolites usually became stabilized on this diet by the third or fourth day. Therefore 24 hr. collections of urine were made on the fifth, sixth and seventh days of the standard diet. The subjects were then given 10 g. of pure L-leucine daily, in a single dose, taken with one of the main meals of the day, for five days. Then 24 hr. urine collections were again made on the second, third, fourth and fifth days of the supplementation with leucine. The supplement of leucine was then withdrawn, but the collection of urine samples was continued for 4 more days. The samples of urine were collected over 15 ml. of acetic acid and analysed without delay.In four other normal volunteer adults the effects of simultaneous ingestion of (a) tryptophan and leucine, and of (b) nicotinic acid and leucine, on the urinary excretion of tryptophan metabolites were studied. Subjects were maintained on the standard diet described above, and 24 hr. urine samples were collected on the fifth, sixth and seventh days. On the morning of the eighth day, at 9 a.m., 5 g. of DL-tryptophan was given orally, and the urine was collected till 9 p.m. At 9 p.m. another load at 5 g. of DL-tryptophan was given, and urine was collected for the next 12 hr. Samples (24 hr.) were collected from the morning of the ninth day for the next 3 days. The subjects were then given 5 g. of leucine twice a day for 5 days; on the fifth day they received 5 g. of tryptophan in addition to the leucine. Urine collections were made in the manner described above. For the load test with nicotinamide the experimental procedure was identical except that 100 mg. of nicotinamide/dose was used instead of tryptophan.