Flipped Classroom

A report on first implementation

Under the initiative of Active Learning by

Gujarat Technological University

By:
Mr. Pulok Ranjan Mohanta
Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Laxmi Institute of Technology, Sarigam
Introduction
The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which the typical
lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. Short video
lectures are viewed by students at home before the class session, while
in class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions. Through
this method, teachers record their lessons using simple video capture
software, and share them amongst the students through internet or other
means and assign the recordings for online viewing prior to class and
the classroom teaching hour can be used for collaborative activities.

This shift allows instructors to transition out of their role of sage on

the stage and become facilitators, or guides on the side thereby
allowing students to move away from being passive listeners and be-
coming active participants in the learning process

Key elements
The key elements of Flipped Classroom are:
To provide an opportunity for students to gain first exposure to

content prior to class.

To provide an incentive for students to prepare for class.

To provide in-class activities that focus on higher-level cognitive

activities.
To provide a mechanism to assess student understanding.

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Scope of the research
The FLIPPED Classroom concept in this project is being implemented
to the Sixth Semester students of Automobile Engineering
Department for the subject Vehicle Air Conditioning (3360204).
Since there are 19 students in total which is less in comparison to other
branches, it would be advantageous in controlling and monitoring the
progress of the project.

The duration of this project would be of one semester.

Expected Outcome
The case studies of implementation of flipped classroom concept in
some reputed universities across the world show a positive result of the
implementation of this concept of pedagogy. However the concept is
new in Indian education scenario.

The following outcomes are being expected from this project:

Students will be exposed to collaborative learning environment.

The students will develop better understanding of the concepts

and principles.
The problem solving skills of the students will be improved.

It will help students to perform better at end semester examina-

tion.

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Methodology
At first stage the learning materials like videos and Presentations
are prepared for first few lecture topics and the remaining shall
prepared as the course progresses.
The students are provided with these materials at the beginning of
the week and a schedule of topics for discussion is also declared.
Students refer the material at their home and come to the class for
discussion and problem solving.
Their performance of students in the class will be judged by a
number of quizzes spread throughout the course duration.
They will also have to submit the online assignments which are

Picture Source: https://andyjamespiper.files.wordpress.com

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Implementation at
Laxmi Institute of Technology

At Laxmi Institute of Technology, The Flipped Classroom concept in

this project is being implemented to the Sixth Semester students of
Automobile Engineering Department for the subject Vehicle Air
Conditioning (3360204).

Google Classroom is being used as IT platform to share the study

materials and monitor the progress of the class. Google Classroom is
now available for free for Apps user

Figure 1. The Digital Classroom of Automobile Engineering Sixth Semester

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After creating the Class, Students were invited to join it.
A demo Class was organized for the students on How to access the
Google Classroom on 18th February, 2016.

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Study materials like PDFs and Videos are being posted to the class to
be referred by the students at their home.

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Home work and assignments are also posted to the class and the
same is also announced during the class. They are also intimated
with the deadlines.

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Through Google Classroom it becomes easy to check whether the
students have completed the assigned homework or not.

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 Mobile Compatibility
All the components of the class as described in the deskto version can
also be accessed through mobiles by using the Google Class app.

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 Discussion session
After the demo of Google Class, the students were taken for a discussion
session. Students felt more active during the discussion and found it more
interesting while sharing each others knowledge and understanding.

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 Pitfalls
Although Flipped Classroom promises of greater effectiveness over
traditional classes, the following pitfalls were faced
Students are new to this method. So initially they were resistant

because it requires that they do work at home rather than be first

exposed to the subject matter in class. They perceived it to be extra
load. Situation seems to be improved as the are getting used to.
At the beginning they were coming unprepared to class to

participate in the active learning phase of the course. This problem

is being addressed by giving a short quiz either online or in class
or by requiring homework that references information that can
only be obtained from the outside reading or videos.
Students are not referring the materials at the appropriate time,

subsequently delaying the assignment submission. It is being tried

to include their assignment score for progressive assessment to
make the more sincere.
Some students are having poor proficiency in English. As they are

pursuing their education in Gujarati medium. Since most of the

study materials videos, ppts, PDFs etc available are in English,
they getting limited benefit out of this method
Some students complained of poor internet connectivity at their

home. For these students, the materials are being distributed using
other technologies like Bluetooth, USB sticks etc. for submission
of assignments, they can access the class with their android
devices by installing the Google Classroom app.

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 Conclusion
Despite the challenges faced, the Flipped Classroom is being gradually
getting more popular among students as well as teachers of various
domain. It has the potential to be proved as a novel and effective teaching
approach for engineering education. The format of the Flipped Classroom
will provide more opportunities for students to engage in critical thinking,
independent learning and more effectively collaborative learning.
Continuous effort are being put to implement the concept more effectively.
The responses of the students are being recorded and the performance will
also be judged. Successful implementation for the present class will
definitely motivate to implement the concept for other classes as well.

References
1. Boston University - College of Engineering Article http://www.bu.edu/
phpbin/news-cms/news/?dept=666&id=59184
2. The Four Pillars of F-L-I-P, Flipped Learning Network (FLN).
(2014) www.flippedlearning.org/definition.
3. D. Fisher, The use of instructional time in the typical high schoolclass-
room, The Educational Forum. 73(2) (2009), 168-176.
4. Herreid C. F., Nancy A. Schiller N. A., Case Studies and the Flipped
Classroom (2013), Journal of College Science Teaching Vol. 42, No. 5,

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