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The Flipped Classroom: One Teacher's Reflections on an Innovative Idea

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The Flipped Classroom: One Teacher's Reflections on an Innovative Idea

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Source: Popular
Abstract:
Daniel Nemerow started using online videos for substitute plans in his high school math classes but then decided he could make his own videos. His videos did not solve the problem of his math students giving up when they could not solve a problem. Data from student surveys confirmed that his students were quitting when they could not solve a math problem. That is when Nemerow decided to flip his classroom. Students took notes from videos Nemerow created and spent time in class working problems that would normally be homework. Nemerow emphasizes the need to be consistent in the procedures that are followed. He does not show videos in class. He reserves that time for practice and has learned not to be bothered by the fact that some students do not watch the videos. Nemerow says that they either get on board, get embarrassed for not being prepared, or get behind, but they spend class time practicing no matter what. He states that within a few weeks of flipping his classroom his students were attempting more math problems than ever before. Flipping allows him to provide differentiated instruction and allows his students to move at their own pace. His students are performing better on all testing methods including standardized tests. He had several students score personal bests on state assessments.
APA Citation
Nemerow, D. (n.d.). The flipped classroom: One teacher's reflections on an innovative idea. Flippedclass.com.
Retrieved 19 November 2016, from
http://flippedclass.com/newsroom/recent-coverage/the-flipped-classroom-one-teachers-reflections-on-an-innovative-idea/

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"The Flipped Classroom: One Teacher's Reflections on an Innovative Idea"

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By Daniel Nemerow, M. Ed. Introduction Imagine giving your classroom over to your students, allowing them to drive instruction, to take the conversation where they need it to go, and still address all of your state content standards. I'm fortunate in that I get to do exactly those things every day.

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What 'Flipped' Classrooms Can (and Can't) Do for Education

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What 'Flipped' Classrooms Can (and Can't) Do for Education

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Source: Popular
Abstract: Tyler Johnstone, an algebra teacher in Folsom, CA, integrates the flipped model into his classroom by posting videos for his students to watch each week. Students watch the videos and practice
a few problems at home and then most of the actual work is done in class. Johnstone's students often re-watch the videos and even get their parents to watch the videos. Mike Kaspar (NEA) cautions about expecting videos to be a cure-all for direct instruction and that lectures, even though in video form, should not be heavily relied upon. Kaspar states that "a lecture is still a lecture". Johnstone acknowledges some challenges to flipped instruction such as internet issues and time management. However, Johnstone has seen increased parental involvement at home and believes the instruction works for his students.
APA Citation
Graham, E., Walker, T. (2013). What flipped classrooms can and can't do for education.  neaToday.
Retrieved 19 November 2016, from
http://neatoday.org/2013/03/29/what-flipped-classrooms-can-and-cant-do-for-education/

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Not too long ago, many teachers would have been horrified at the thought of their students watching them on YouTube. But in the world of "flipped" classrooms, students watching online videos of their teachers is a key part of their instruction. Tyler Johnstone, an algebra teacher in Folsom, CA, is one of the growing number of educators who have integrated the flipped model into their classrooms. Johnstone posts about four video lectures a week to YouTube. Students take notes while they watch the lectures and are usually assigned a few problems at home to reinforce the concept, but most of the actual work is done in the classroom, where Johnstone can help the students comprehend the material further.

Because their homework is often more engaging, Johnstone has found that almost all of his students are watching the assigned videos on a nightly basis. What's more, Johnstone has found that his students often re-watch his videos, even getting their parents to view them as well.

"Even though I only teach 70 kids algebra, some of my YouTube videos have been viewed like 100, 150 times," says Johnstone. "Obviously the kids are going back and watching it again, and I've even had some parents tell me they're watching so they can help their kids at home and see what they're learning."

Like Johnstone, teachers across the country are flipping their classrooms using online video instruction or DVDs of lessons to reverse what students have traditionally done in the classroom and at home to learn. Instead of spending class time listening to a presentation, students watch teacher-created videos and blog posts at home, and then spend their class time doing problem-solving sets and hands-on work. Since students do much of the traditional "homework" in class, teachers are able to help the students on an individual basis and maximize their understanding of the material.

Daniele Massey, who teaches at Vilseck High School in the US Army Garrison at Grafenwoehr, Germany, is also finding success with the flipped model.

"The flipped strategy allows me to individualize instruction for all learners, including ability level, needs, and learning style. It is so easy to modify once the foundation is built," says Massey.

Since the parents are on active duty, many of Massey's students face an additional strain due to life on an army base. Massey has found that the flipped method allows many of these students to feel comfortable in the classroom, and even provides them with the opportunity to remain up-to-date with their classwork during prolonged absences.

For Johnstone, Massey and many other educators, the flipped strategy works for them, their students and parents. But many experts caution that some educators may want to proceed cautiously. Like other buzz-worthy trends, flipped classrooms may not amount to much if the technology by itself is held up as some sort of cure-all for the classroom.

"Just because you've flipped your classroom, doesn't mean your students will watch the videos and it doesn't mean you're engaging your kids," explains Mike Kaspar, senior policy analyst at the National Education Association.

Kaspar points out that flipped classrooms still rely heavily on lectures, which is not as effective as hands-on learning. Many teachers who opt for the flipped strategy haven't necessarily pursued a student-centered approach to instruction, essentially leaving lectures front and center

"In the hands of the experienced, well-trained teacher, who knows how to use the technology to truly engage students, it has real value," says Kaspar. "But look past the bells and whistles and be realistic about what flipped classrooms can achieve. Sometimes a lecture is still just a lecture."

In addition, because the flipped method relies on technology, it's essential that students are able to connect to the Internet at home. Both Massey and Johnstone are fortunate to teach students who can readily access their videos, so transforming their classrooms has been a relatively smooth process. Obviously, many low-income students do not have ready access, causing many critics to worry that flipped classrooms could end up widening the digital divide and the achievement gap.

Johnstone cautions fellow educators to be aware of the day-to-day challenges and unforeseen obstacles. He recalls that one night YouTube blocked up and kept him from posting the video lecture for that night. Another time he had a student whose Internet conked out at home, so he created a DVD of the videos for the student to watch instead.

"It requires the teacher and the students to have some patience," says Johnstone. "It's a brand new idea, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

The flipped classroom model also tends to heavily favor problem-solving courses over more reading and writing-oriented ones. While it's hard for English or History teachers to create video lectures because of their source material, some of them have approached the flipped classroom method from an inquiry-based standpoint. This entails flipping the responsibilities of classwork to the students, which helps to engage them on a one-to-one basis by getting them to solve their own questions through the use of technology.

Another issue that both teachers have had to confront is time management. For Johnstone, a 15 to 25 minute video lecture takes almost three times as long to create. While he wants to continue making videos, Johnstone is hoping to create a discussion board model so students can help each other comprehend their lessons from home.

"It would be better for me if students can help each other at home," Johnstone says. "I think a more interactive approach among the students would be great."

Like Johnstone, Massey has noticed a large uptick in the amount of parents who are now participating in their students' work.

"Once parents are able to ask and understand the process they realize that their ability to help is more impactful," says Massey. "I have more parents that watch the videos with their students than not - maybe not all the time and not the whole video, but more parents help with 'homework' now than before."

While Massey and Johnstone are making their models more engaging and collaborative for students, many educators who are interested in flipping their classrooms may need extra training before they can successfully implement the approach.

"Technology is not the answer, and it's not the enemy," says Mike Kaspar. "Teachers must be provided with rigorous professional development to learn how to make strategies like flipped classrooms work in the classroom. This has to be about more than students watching YouTube lectures at home. Bad pedagogy is bad pedagogy whether it's flipped or not."

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What 'Flipped' Classrooms Can (and Can't) Do for Education - NEA Today

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Not too long ago, many teachers would have been horrified at the thought of their students watching them on YouTube. But in the world of "flipped" classrooms, students watching online videos of their teachers is a key part of their instruction.

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Source: Popular
Abstract: Teacher Shelley Wright began using flipped classroom instruction to allow her classroom to become more student-centered and less teacher-centered.  As this teacher and students made the shift to student-centered learning, students began to do their own research and began teaching each other.  Wright says that her students 'learned how to learn'.  As students learned to find and share their own resources, she no longer needed to spend time creating lecture videos for outside the classroom because students were doing all the research and learning on their own in class.
Students progressed from learning everything from the teacher, to learning from flipped instruction, to taking almost complete ownership of their own learning.
APA Citation
Wright, S. (2012). The flip: End of a love affair. Powerful Learning Practice.
Retrieved 19 November 2016, from
http://plpnetwork.com/2012/10/08/flip-love-affair/

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A little over a year ago I wrote a post about the flipped classroom, why I loved it, and how I used it. I have to admit, the flip wasn't the same economic and political entity then that it is now. And in some ways, I think that matters.

Here's the thing. When I recently re-read the post, I didn't disagree with anything I'd said. Yet my brief love affair with the flip has ended. It simply didn't produce the tranformative learning experience I knew I wanted for my students .

When I wrote that post, I imagined the flip as a stepping stone to a fully realized inquiry/PBL classroom. And the flip's gradual disappearance from our learning space hasn't been a conscious decision: it's simply a casualty of our progression from a teacher-centred classroom to a student-centred one.

What is the flip?

The flipped classroom essentially reverses traditional teaching. Instead of lectures occurring in the classroom and assignments being done at home, the opposite occurs. Lectures are viewed at home by students, via videos or podcasts (found online or created by the teacher), and class time is devoted to assignments or projects based on this knowledge. In theory, this sounds terrific.

When I first encountered the flip, it seemed like a viable way to help deal with the large and sometimes burdensome amount of content included in my senior Biology & Chemistry curricula. So many times in the past I had thought what many science teachers must think: "I'd love to do more hands-on activities, but we have to get through the content first." The flipped classroom might offer a solution.

My flipped experiments

I first encountered the flip in a blog post. At the time, it was a relatively new idea (at least in the K12 world). There weren't any websites or books devoted to it. And while the particular post I read was actually expounding the virtues of traditional teaching vs. the flip, I thought, "Flipping could actually work."

My students loved the idea of trying something that very few other students were doing. Some of my students even benefited from watching and re-watching videos. Even so, we used it sparingly. We never moved to an entirely flipped classroom that required my students to watch lecture after lecture, day after day, by video. Even so, when we did "flip," it felt more like we were juggling the traditional lecture around than moving forward into a new learning paradigm.

We began to shift

As I shifted my classroom from teacher-centred to student-centred, my students began to do lots of their their own research. Sometimes this resulted in them teaching each other. Sometimes they created a project with the knowledge they were acquiring. But the bottom line was that their learning had a purpose that was apparent to them, beyond simply passing the unit exam.

What was my role? I helped them learn to learn. I prompted them to reflect on their thinking and learning, while at the same time I shared my own journey as a learner. I helped them develop skills such as using research tools, finding and evaluating sources, and collaborating with their peers. My goal as a teacher shifted from information-giver and gatekeeper to someone who was determined to work myself out of a job by the time my students graduated.

The flip faded away

As this new way of learning played out over time, my students found they didn't need me to locate or create videos for them. Instead, they learned how to learn, and they were able to find their own resources. For me, this was a much more important skill than following my directions or using the resources I told them to use.

As this shift occurred, the flip simply disappeared from our classroom. It took almost a year for me to notice it was gone. Instead, our classroom had become a place where students discovered and shared their own resources, while engaging in projects with each other. There was no need for me to assign video homework or create portable lectures. It all happened during class.

Lest anyone think we were able to do this because we learn in a high-tech school, that's not the case. We weren't a 1:1 classroom. We used whatever devices my students had, which often was a couple of iPads, a few computers, and student cell phones. There were students who didn't have a device, so other students shared. We made it work and everyone learned.

The flip is gone for good

While I may not have intentionally removed the flip from my classroom, I would never resurrect it. Here's why:

1) I dislike the idea of giving my students homework. Really? Yes. Students spend over five hours a day engaged in academic pursuits. I think that is enough. Recently I've been reading Alfie Kohn's book The Homework Myth. He has mined the research on homework thoroughly, and - overwhelmingly - it shows that homework has no long-term impact on academic achievement. That's likely shocking to some teachers.

But beyond this, I think there's more to life than being engaged in academics. Students need to participate in a variety of pursuits - sports, music, drama, meaningful jobs - to fully develop all of their talents and discover areas of interest. Furthermore, students need to spend time with their families. What right do I have impinge on this?

2) A lecture by video is still a lecture. This summer I had the opportunity to speak with a superintendent from a division outside of my own. He was curious about the flipped classroom. We were with a group of educators and he asked if anyone present had used it. Since I was the teacher with the most experience with it, I spoke about what it looked like in our classroom. Mostly I talked about inquiry learning and student choice.

At the end, he looked at me and said, "So the videos - did you make your own, or use ones that someone else had made?" My immediate thought was, "you don't get it." I was candid: "If you think it's only about the videos, then you have a really shallow definition of what this could be. The real power is when students take responsibility for their own learning."

Of course, the reality is that many if not most teachers who opt for the flipped classroom strategy are not pursuing a student-centred approach to teaching and learning. The traditional model of learning is simply being reversed, instead of being reinvented. The lecture (live or on video) is still front and center.

Learning isn't simply a matter of passively absorbing new information while watching a lecture on video; new knowledge should be actively constructed. When we shifted to a student-centred classroom, my students took control of their learning, and I quit lecturing. I haven't lectured in almost two years.

3) I want my students to own their learning. It's been stated that "At its most basic level, the flipped classroom gives students more control over their educations, allowing them to start and stop or rewind important lectures to focus on key points." To me, this isn't giving students control over their education, although it may be creating new markets for content-oriented videos and related materials.

In our classroom, we sit down with the curriculum, and students actually see what the outcomes and objectives are. We then have a dialogue about what my students' learning might look like. They have a choice over what order they are going to work on outcomes, how they are going to learn and reach those outcomes, and how they are going to show me what they have learned.

As my students worked with me to invent our own version of student-centred learning, we realized that the three questions every student in our classroom had to answer were: What are you going to learn? How are you going to learn it? How are you going to show me your learning? This became our mantra - our framework for learning. This is what it means to give students "control over their education."

4) My students need to be able to find and critically evaluate their own resources. Consequently, if I'm continuously handing them resources, they are not going to learn this skill. It's more important for my students to learn to learn than to absorb the content in any video I might make and hand to them, with most of the thinking already done for them.

What did our classroom become instead?

Last year in my Chemistry class, our last unit was on Stoichiometry, which, essentially, is chemistry math. We had approximately 10 concepts to learn in 8 weeks. Each concept built upon the other, so there was a specific route we had to follow for it to make sense. Beyond that, how we got there was completely open.

I told my students we had 10 concepts to learn in 8 weeks. They could work at their own pace, with whatever resources they chose, but in the end, we all needed to be done in 8 weeks when the semester ended. On the first day we all started in the same place. I had provided a rudimentary outline of the concepts we needed to study on our wiki (which we'd been using all semester to create our own digital textbook). My students chose the resources that helped them learn best. Throughout the 8 weeks, students sent me the ones they considered "best of the best," and they were added to our online textbook. And it really was "ours."

What happened over the coming days is that my students fanned out. Some shot ahead because they found the initial concepts quite easy. Others needed to hunker down to really grasp them. My students differentiated their own instruction. They worked at their own pace, since they chose their own resources. They could do extra work at home if they felt it necessary.

I talked to every student every day. I could look at their work, have them articulate their thinking process, and see where they were struggling. I could spend time helping those who really needed it. The thing I find about Chemistry is that many students lack the background knowledge to begin to make the neural connections that are essential for understanding it. Some students experience a great deal of cognitive dissonance, and when they do, we talk about that in the context of their brain development.

To work through the concepts, some chose on-line stoichiometry sites, others preferred pencil and paper, and still others constructed models of their thinking. One student decided to use a traditional textbook. The students who needed to talk through their thinking could do so with their peers or with me.

Essentially, they needed to construct theories as to how stoichiometry works, rather than watching a video and memorizing the equation. As Alfie Kohn states, a learning environment that promotes constructing knowledge "treats students as meaning makers and offers carefully calibrated challenges that help them to develop increasingly sophisticated theories. The point is for them to understand ideas from the inside out."

That's how most people learn best, learning things from the inside out, and I don't think lecture videos promote this.

Was it chaotic?

No. The thing that I didn't expect was that my students created flexible groups, depending on what they were working on. They found peers who were working on the same concept they were, so that they could help each other. Sometimes they realized who they couldn't work with on a particular day, and found a different group of peers to work with instead. And to solidify what my students were learning, we engaged in hands-on activities and labs that actually used the Chemistry concepts they were studying.

For the first time, none of my students were left behind. Everyone learned Chemistry. Everyone received credit for the class. And my students became more adept at research, thinking, collaborating, problem solving, and reflecting on their own learning. Everyone finished on time.

It's not about fads - it's about ownership

I've learned that inquiry & PBL learning can be incredibly powerful in the hands of students. I would never teach any other way again.

When students own their learning, then deep, authentic, transformative things happen in a classroom. It has nothing to do with videos, or homework, or the latest fad in education. It has everything to do with who owns the learning.

For me, the question really is: who owns the learning in your classroom?

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A little over a year ago I wrote a post about the flipped classroom, why I loved it, and how I used it. I have to admit, the flip wasn't the same economic and political entity then that it is now. And in some ways, I think that matters.

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A Study of the Flipped Classroom and Its Effectiveness in Flipping Thirty Percent of the Course Content

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A Study of the Flipped Classroom and Its Effectiveness in Flipping Thirty Percent of the Course Content

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Source: Practitioner Journal
Abstract: Instructors participated in a Flipped Class Competitive Grant proposal as a result of low student grades. Instructors documented their instruction approaches and used flipped instruction approximately every other week. Qualitative and qualitative assessments were used.  Final grades in the flipped classrooms were compared to grades in classroom where instructio was not flipped.
Findings: A questionnaire revealed that the majority of students liked the flipped instruction.  Students had better learning results and improved attitudes.  The author recommends that teachers start small and keep it simple.
APA Citation
Nwosisi, C., Ferreira, A., Rosenberg, W., & Walsh, K. (2016). A study of the flipped classroom and its effectiveness in flipping thirty percent of the course content. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 6(5), 348.
Retrieved 15 November 2016, from
http://search.proquest.com/openview/6ffbcd3061dfc3616ab00d154ee3e5a2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar

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Source: Practitioner Journal
Abstract: Students in the flipped classroom are participating in the lower levels of Bloom's taxonomy outside the classroom and participating in the higher levels in the classroom.  There are variations of a flipped classroom, but there are four key elements of the flipped classroom.
Findings: Data illustrates that students in a flipped classroom showed significant learning gains. Some students gained two standard deviations higher.
APA Citation
Brame, C., (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.
Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

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Cite this guide: Brame, C. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

"Flipping the classroom" has become something of a buzzword in the last several years, driven in part by high profile publications in The New York Times (Fitzpatrick, 2012); The Chronicle of Higher Education (Berrett, 2012); and (Mazur, 2009); In essence, "flipping the classroom" means that students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving, discussion, or debates.

In terms of Bloom's revised taxonomy (2001), this means that students are doing the lower levels of cognitive work (gaining knowledge and comprehension) outside of class, and focusing on the higher forms of cognitive work (application, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation) in class, where they have the support of their peers and instructor. This model contrasts from the traditional model in which "first exposure" occurs via lecture in class, with students assimilating knowledge through homework; thus the term "flipped classroom."

What is it?

Flipped Classroom

The flipped classroom approach has been used for years in some disciplines, notably within the humanities. Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Johnson Anderson promoted the use of this approach in their book Effective Grading (1998). They propose a model in which students gain first-exposure learning prior to class and focus on the processing part of learning (synthesizing, analyzing, problem-solving, etc.) in class.

To ensure that students do the preparation necessary for productive class time, Walvoord and Anderson propose an assignment-based model in which students produce work (writing, problems, etc.) prior to class. The students receive productive feedback through the processing activities that occur during class, reducing the need for the instructor to provide extensive written feedback on the students' work. Walvoord and Anderson describe examples of how this approach has been implemented in history, physics, and biology classes, suggesting its broad applicability.

Inverted Classroom

Maureen Lage, Glenn Platt, and Michael Treglia described a similar approach as the inverted classroom, and reported its application in an introductory economics course in 2000. Lage, Platt, and Treglia initiated their experiment in response to the observation that the traditional lecture format is incompatible with some learning styles. ¹ To make their course more compatible with their students' varied learning styles, they designed an inverted classroom in which they provided students with a variety of tools to gain first exposure to material outside of class: textbook readings, lecture videos, Powerpoint presentations with voice-over, and printable Powerpoint slides.

To help ensure student preparation for class, students were expected to complete worksheets that were periodically but randomly collected and graded. Class time was then spent on activities that encouraged students to process and apply economics principles, ranging from mini-lectures in response to student questions to economic experiments to small group discussions of application problems. Both student and instructor response to the approach was positive, with instructors noting that students appeared more motivated than when the course was taught in a traditional format.

Peer Instruction

Eric Mazur and Catherine Crouch describe a modified form of the flipped classroom that they term peer instruction (2001). Like the approaches described by Walvoord and Anderson and Lage, Platt, and Treglia, the peer instruction (PI) model requires that students gain first exposure prior to class, and uses assignments (in this case, quizzes) to help ensure that students come to class prepared. Class time is structured around alternating mini-lectures and conceptual questions. Importantly, the conceptual questions are not posed informally and answered by student volunteers as in traditional lectures; instead, all students must answer the conceptual question, often via "clickers", or handheld personal response systems, that allow students to answer anonymously and that allow the instructor to see (and display) the class data immediately. If a large fraction of the class (usually between 30 and 65%) answers incorrectly, then students reconsider the question in small groups while instructors circulate to promote productive discussions. After discussion, students answer the conceptual question again. The instructor provides feedback, explaining the correct answer and following up with related questions if appropriate. The cycle is then repeated with another topic, with each cycle typically taking 13-15 minutes.

Does it work?

Mazur and colleagues have published results suggesting that the PI method results in significant learning gains when compared to traditional instruction (2001). In 1998, Richard Hake gathered data on 2084 students in 14 introductory physics courses taught by traditional methods (defined by the instructor as relying primarily on passive student lectures and algorithmic problem exams), allowing him to define an average gain for students in such courses using pre/post-test data. Hake then compared these results to those seen with interactive engagement methods, defined as "heads-on (always) and hands-on (usually) activities which yield immediate feedback through discussion with peers and/or instructors" (Hake p. 65) for 4458 students in 48 courses. He found that students taught with interactive engagement methods exhibited learning gains almost two standard deviations higher than those observed in the traditional courses (0.48 +/- 0.14 vs. 0.23 +/- 0.04). Assessment of classes taught by the PI method provides evidence of even greater learning gains, with students in PI courses exhibiting learning gains ranging from 0.49 to 0.74 over eight years of assessment at Harvard University (Crouch and Mazur, 2001). Interestingly, two introductory physics classes taught by traditional methods during the assessment period at Harvard show much lower learning gains (0.25 in a calculus-based course in 1990 and 0.40 in an algebra-based course in 1999).

Carl Wieman and colleagues have also published evidence that flipping the classroom can produce significant learning gains (Deslauriers et al., 2011). Wieman and colleagues compared two sections of a large-enrollment physics class. The classes were both taught via interactive lecture methods for the majority of the semester and showed no significant differences prior to the experiment. During the twelfth week of the semester, one section was "flipped," with first exposure to new material occurring prior to class via reading assignments and quizzes, and class time devoted to small group discussion of clicker questions and questions that required written responses. Although class discussion was supported by targeted instructor feedback, no formal lecture was included in the experimental group. The control section was encouraged to read the same assignments prior to class and answered most of the same clicker questions for summative assessment but were not intentionally engaged in active learning exercises during class. During the experiment, student engagement increased in the experimental section (from 45 +/- 5% to 85 +/- 5% as assessed by four trained observers) but did not change in the control section. At the end of the experimental week, students completed a multiple choice test, resulting in an average score of 41 +/- 1% in the control classroom and 74 +/- 1% in the "flipped" classroom, with an effect size of 2.5 standard deviations. Although the authors did not address retention of the gains over time, this dramatic increase in student learning supports the use of the flipped classroom model.

Theoretical basis

How People Learn, the seminal work from John Bransford, Ann Brown, and Rodney Cocking, reports three key findings about the science of learning, two of which help explain the success of the flipped classroom. Bransford and colleagues assert that

"To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application" (p. 16).

By providing an opportunity for students to use their new factual knowledge while they have access to immediate feedback from peers and the instructor, the flipped classroom helps students learn to correct misconceptions and organize their new knowledge such that it is more accessible for future use. Furthermore, the immediate feedback that occurs in the flipped classroom also helps students recognize and think about their own growing understanding, thereby supporting Bransford and colleagues' third major conclusion:

"A 'metacognitive' approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them" (p. 18).

Although students' thinking about their own learning is not an inherent part of the flipped classroom, the higher cognitive functions associated with class activities, accompanied by the ongoing peer/instructor interaction that typically accompanies them, can readily lead to the metacognition associated with deep learning.

What are the key elements of the flipped classroom?

1. Provide an opportunity for students to gain first exposure prior to class.

The mechanism used for first exposure can vary, from simple textbook readings to lecture videos to podcasts or screencasts. For example, Grand Valley State University math professor Robert Talbert provides screencasts on class topics on his YouTube channel, while Vanderbilt computer science professor Doug Fisher provides his students video lectures prior to class (see an example here). These videos can be created by the instructor or found online from YouTube, the Khan Academy, MIT's OpenCourseWare, Coursera, or other similar sources. The pre-class exposure doesn't have to be high-tech, however; in the Deslauriers, Schelew, and Wieman study described above, students simply completed pre-class reading assignments.

2. Provide an incentive for students to prepare for class.

In all the examples cited above, students completed a task associated with their preparation....and that task was associated with points. The assignment can vary; the examples above used tasks that ranged from online quizzes to worksheets to short writing assignments, but in each case the task provided an incentive for students to come to class prepared by speaking the common language of undergraduates: points. In many cases, grading for completion rather than effort can be sufficient, particularly if class activities will provide students with the kind of feedback that grading for accuracy usually provides.

3. Provide a mechanism to assess student understanding.

The pre-class assignments that students complete as evidence of their preparation can also help both the instructor and the student assess understanding. Pre-class online quizzes can allow the instructor to practice Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT; Novak et al., 1999), which basically means that the instructor tailors class activities to focus on the elements with which students are struggling. If automatically graded, the quizzes can also help students pinpoint areas where they need help. Pre-class worksheets can also help focus student attention on areas with which they're struggling, and can be a departure point for class activities, while pre-class writing assignments help students clarify their thinking about a subject, thereby producing richer in-class discussions. Importantly, much of the feedback students need is provided in class, reducing the need for instructors to provide extensive commentary outside of class (Walvoord and Anderson, 1998). In addition, many of the activities used during class time (e.g., clicker questions or debates) can serve as informal checks of student understanding.

4. Provide in-class activities that focus on higher level cognitive activities.

If the students gained basic knowledge outside of class, then they need to spend class time to promote deeper learning. Again, the activity will depend on the learning goals of the class and the culture of the discipline. For example, Lage, Platt, and Treglia described experiments students did in class to illustrate economic principles (2000), while Mazur and colleagues focused on student discussion of conceptual "clicker" questions and quantitative problems focused on physical principles (2001). In other contexts, students may spend time in class engaged in debates, data analysis, or synthesis activities. The key is that students are using class time to deepen their understanding and increase their skills at using their new knowledge.

Where can I learn more?

CFT Director Derek Bruff has a good blog post on flipping the classroom with some great embedded references. Find it here: http://derekbruff.org/?p=901.

References

Berrett D (2012). How 'flipping' the classroom can improve the traditional lecture. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 19, 2012.

Anderson LW and Krathwohl D (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.

Bransford JD, Brown AL, and Cocking RR (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Crouch CH and Mazur E (2001). Peer instruction: Ten years of experience and results. American Journal of Physics 69: 970-977.

DesLauriers L, Schelew E, and Wieman C (2011). Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class. Science 332: 862-864.

Fitzpatrick M (2012). Classroom lectures go digital. The New York Times, June 24, 2012.

Hake R (1998). Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses. American Journal of Physics 66: 64-74.

Lage MJ, Platt GJ, and Treglia M (2000). Inverting the classroom: A gateway to creating an inclusive learning environment. The Journal of Economic Education 31: 30-43.

Mazur E (2009). Farewell, Lecture? Science 323: 50-51.

Novak G, Patterson ET, Gavrin AD, and Christian W (1999). Just-in-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with Web Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Pashler H, McDaniel M, Rohrer D, and Bjork R (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 9: 103-119.

Walvoord BE, and Anderson VJ (1998). Effective grading: A tool for learning and assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Footnote:
¹ Although there is widespread belief that matching students' preferred "learning styles" to instructional formats promotes learning, a 2008 review by Pashler and colleagues finds no evidence that this strategy promotes learning.
Cite this guide:
Brame, C., (2013). Flipping the classroom. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.
Brame, C., (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

This teaching guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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by Cynthia J. Brame Print Version Cite this guide: Brame, C. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/. "Flipping the classroom" has become something of a buzzword in the last several years, driven in part by high profile publications in The New York Times (Fitzpatrick, 2012); The Chronicle...

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Flipping an Algebra Classroom: Analyzing, Modeling, and Solving Systems of Linear Equations

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Flipping an Algebra Classroom: Analyzing, Modeling, and Solving Systems of Linear Equations

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Source: Peer-Reviewed
Method: Quantitative (teacher journal data, district-mandated unit exams, pretest, posttest)

This study involved 54 seventh and eighth grade students that were assigned to either a control group or an experimental group by random coin toss.  The control group received traditional instruction that consisted of brief direct instruction, collaborative learning, investigation, and various activities.  The experimental group was engaged in the same activities but since they received direct instruction at home through videos, the experimental group had much more time, nearly the entire period, to be actively engaged in the other learning activities. The control group focus was on lectures with guided and individual practice, while the experimental group focus was on engaging activities of exploration and practice.

Findings: This flipped classroom study showed that this type of instruction allows for better time management, which provides more time for student engagement. However, flipping a classroom requires greater teacher preparation time, but the payoffs include increased student engagement, meaningful dialogue, students willing to take risks, student responsibility for learning, more teacher time for differentiated instruction, and better attitudes towards learning.
APA Citation:
Kirvan, R., Rakes, C. R., & Zamora, R. (2015). Flipping an algebra alassroom: Analyzing, modeling, and solving systems of linear equations. Computers in the Schools, 32, 201-223. doi:10.1080/07380569.2015.1093902
Retrieved 15 November 2016, from
http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.una.edu/doi/full/10.1080/07380569.2015.1093902

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The Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Mathematics Concept Learning in High School

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The Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Mathematics Concept Learning in High School

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Source: Peer-Reviewed
Method: Quantitative (pretest, posttest, course interest survey, mathematics achievement test)

82 high-school students participated in this quasi-experimental study.  The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of flipped classroom instruction on high-school math students.  A control group and an experimental group were used in the study. Each group contains sub groups of low achievers, average achievers, and high achievers.  The experimental group participated in lessons using the flipped classroom instructional method, while the control group participated in a traditional learning experience.  The study was conducted over a period of six weeks.  Both groups took a pretest and a posttest for the study.  A Mathematics Achievement Test(MAT) was used to measure student performance, and a Course Interest Survey(CIS) was used to measure student motivation.  The study showed that low achievers benefitted more from the flipped classroom instruction than high achievers.
Findings: This study shows that low and average achievers benefitted more from the flipped classroom instruction than high achievers. High achievers showed very little difference in either group.   The study suggests that low and averages achievers benefit more from the flipped instruction due to more teacher time.
APA Citation
Bhagat, K. K., Chang, C. N., & Chang, C. Y. (2016). The impact of the flipped classroom on mathematics concept learning in high school. Educational Technology & Society, 19 (3), 134–142.
Retrieved 15 November 2016, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286047548_The_Impact_of_the_Flipped_Classroom_on_Mathematics_Concept_Learning_in_High_school

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A Blended Learning Approach to Increasing Student Achievement in a Sixth Grade Mathematics Classroom Using Flipped Classroom with Tiered Activities

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A Blended Learning Approach to Increasing Student Achievement in a Sixth Grade Mathematics Classroom Using Flipped Classroom with Tiered Activities

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Source:  Peer-Reviewed
Method: Quantitive (pre-assessments, student reports of videos, post-assessments, student surveys)

Four 6th grade math classes were studied for 22 days. Students watched a video lesson, took notes and answered questions each night and discussed the materials the following day in class, as well as participating in numerous other tiered activities. Students took a survey at the end of the 22 days in which they answered questions and provided feedback and suggestions. The surveys helped to identify strengths and weaknesses of the flipped classroom.
Findings: The study shows that teachers had more time with students, student understanding of concepts was enhanced, and student achievement grew.  While the flipped classroom still faces challenges, technology partnered with face-to-face instruction enhances student achievement and success.
APA Citation
Peterson, K. (2016). A blended learning approach to increasing student achievement in a sixth grade mathematics classroom using flipped classroom with tiered activities. Masters of Arts in Education Research Papers. Paper 164

Retrieved 14 November 2016, from
http://sophia.stkate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1171&context=maed&sei-redir=1&referer=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dflipped%2Bclassroom%2Bapproach%2Bin%2Bmiddle%2Bschool%26btnG%3D%26hl%3Den%26as_sdt%3D1%252C1%26as_ylo%3D2016#search=%22flipped%20classroom%20approach%20middle%20school%22

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The Flipped Classroom: A Twist on Teaching

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The Flipped Classroom: A Twist on Teaching

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Source:  Practitioner Journal
Method: Quantitative - Teacher surveys

This quantitative study surveyed 58 teachers, elementary through high school grade levels, with varied years of teaching experience.  Only 3 teachers of the 58 teachers were using flipped classroom instruction.  Each of the three teachers used the flipped classroom strategy in varied ways due to technological restraints.  A high school math teacher used an online site to assign videos, quizzes, and interactive sites that provided her with immediate assessments.  She then used the feedback to guide her instruction the next day.  Students also came to class with questions that the teacher was immediately able to begin working on with the students.  Students in a Social Science class were able to submit questions they had outside of class and the teacher was ready to help the students as they entered the classroom.
Findings: The flipped classroom involves a great deal of additional work for the teacher and may be limited by technological resources, but the flipped classroom improves student engagement and student learning.
APA Citation
Schmidt, S., Ralph, D. L. (2016). The flipped classroom: A twist on teaching. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 9(1), 1-6.
Retrieved 13 November 2016, from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1087603.pdf