Flipped Classroom

Flipped Classroom

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  What is aflipped and how can it benefit students? In my experience as a Chemistry teacher one of the most frustrating things I experienced was in a lecture setting how could I make sure all my students understood the content. Of course if I am truly honest I could not. A lecture setting expects all students to be ready to learn the same content at the same time and at the same rate. We know this is never true. Each student comes to class with their own set of prior knowledge, their own self expectation, and their own strengths and weaknesses. One student may come to class having read Shakespeare, believe she is poor in math, and do well on standardized tests but have trouble organizing large projects. Another student may come to class having frequently visited the science museum, thinking he is brilliant in math, and doing poorly on standardized test but excel creating large projects. The question is how can we accommodate each and every student? Through the traditional method of lecture and homework as well as the ever increasing class size we can’t. A flipped classroom may move us toward accommodating each and every student. In a flipped classroom as indicated by Goodwin and Miller (2013), students are given mini lectures or presentation to deliver explicate instructional material they will need to complete interactive classroom activities. Student view the mini lecture or presentation at home through the web or other device most often online. When they come to class they engage in activities that encourage them to interact with explicate instructional material or as Chris Ripken a 9th grade Geography teacher says “Get their hand dirty.” These activities can range from individually to in small groups collaborations, from working on applying concepts to creating a presentation. In each case the student is expected to expand their experience with the explicate instructional material given. When I think of my teaching chemistry classroom of at time over 36 students, I found the lecture method very ineffective. I was never able to interact with all students. The most productive time was when students collaborated on a problem or project and I went from group to group helping or advising. An advantage of the flipped classroom is the teacher is able to spend more time working with individual and small groups of students as suggested in a study by Greenberg, B., Medlock, L., & Stephens, D. (2011). Many of us who have taught know only too well that each student “gets it” at his or her own time. The classroom becomes a place where 36 students are in 36 different places of understanding the concept we are working on. Then we teacher have the dilemma do we review or move on to a new concept. Most of the time we move on and watch the student who is struggling with the original concept get further and further behind. Wouldn’t it be nice if each student could progress at their own rate, mastering concepts as they go. If a student is having difficulty the teacher is there to help. Beesley and Apthorp (2010) suggested that when a teacher works with students and give corrective feedback, it had a significant effect on a student understanding of the concept. In a flipped classroom students can progress at their own rate and get needed help from the teacher at the time they are having problems with an assignment. This can be done because students will access the explicate instructional material outside of the classroom and work at their own rate completing the interactive activities in the classroom. Here at Infinite Campus we are conducting pilots of Campus Learning for Students, a new technology that delivers explicate instructional material in small haiku like chunks, using mobile devices and the web. During one pilot, observations were done to see what was happening in the classroom. The observation showed an increase of teacher-student interactions and a decrease in lecturing. The teacher
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  was seen answeringquestion to help student understand information often. With ongoing pilots of this technology we hope to see greater success of students mastering concepts. References Greenberg, B., Medlock, L., & Stephens, D. (2011). Blend my learning: Lessons from a blended learning pilot. Oakland, CA: Envison Schools, Google, & Stanford University D.School. Retrieved from http://blendmylearning.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/lessons-learned-from-a-blended-learning- pilot4.pdf) Goodwin, B. & Miller, K. (March 2013). Research Says / Evidence on Flipped Classrooms Is Still Coming In, Educational Leadership 70(6), 78-80. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational- leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/Evidence-on-Flipped-Classrooms-Is-Still-Coming-In.aspx Beesley, A., & Apthorp, H. (Eds.). (2010). Classroom instruction that works, second edition: Research report. Denver, CO: McRel. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/publications/books/Classroom-Instruction-that-Works-2nd- edition-sample.pdf 0 20 40 60 80 100 Teacher Student Teacher Class Percent Percent Observed Teacher Student Interactions Campus Learning Traditional