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Flip Classrooms

Part I Flip Classrooms Trend hypothesis: The trend of flipping classroom is when the teacher substitutes in-class instruction with at home video instruction and utilizes class time for homework assignments and other project based learning activities. Several concepts support this style of teaching. First space will be freed up during in-class time to allow for more just in time instruction and activities in smaller groups enabling the instructor to conduct inquiry-based learning. Another concept of a flipped classroom is it integrates technology into learning and reinforces the classroom time to discussion and collaboration which reinforces the learning process. Description of Trend : Flipping a classroom is gaining a lot of momentum in teaching. Professor Eric Mazur tested this style of instruction back in the 1990’s at Harvard. Salmen Khan has generated over 2200 videos used for the purpose of educating. He has created the Khan Academy which utilizes this trend. The idea is that students learn the lesson at home through videos and other technologies. In class instruction is spent doing homework assignments and inquiry based projects. This type of teaching is a form of blended learning which incorporates technology with face to face learning. Khan Academy has revolutionized this type of teaching. They have recently developed a software program which teaches math and are working on incorporating into other subject areas. The initial learning of the lessons occurs at home through videos. This gives students the opportunity to learn at their own pace. If a student doesn’t understand a concept they are able to rewind the video and replay to review the concept and better understand. For students that do not have computers alternative locations are available. Khan Academy provides teachers with a dashboard which enables teachers to monitor student progress. Teachers can track individual student progress and progress as a whole class. Teachers can monitor time spent on specific topics by individual students. When teachers notice specific students are struggling with a topic or problem they are able to work one on one or in small groups to conduct a mini workshop. While working with those struggling students the remainder of the class is able to continue to work on other activities or project based learning. This type of teaching allows instructors to use their time more effectively with students. This concept takes passivity out of the classroom and the teacher becomes more of a coach or a mentor as oppose to a lecturer. Flip Classroom is a constructivist approach to learning. Constructivism is a theory of learning which allows a person to understand meaning through individual successions. This trend of flipping the classroom incorporates this theory into practice. Students learn through activities and project based learning after they have developed an understanding based on lessons they watched prior to class time. Students learn assigned lessons prior to scheduled class time. Students learn at their own pace through videos and/or other technological resources. This type of learning provides the student with the opportunity to learn information at a pace that is conducive to their learning needs. Students in a flip classroom are able to take what they have learned at home and apply it in a classroom setting through inquiry based projects and assignments. Teachers are able to provide just in time instruction based on student’s understanding, knowledge, and needs. Students apply their understanding of the assigned lesson from the night before and demonstrate through projects and activities in class. This style of learning applies Lev Vygotsky zone of proximal development (ZPD). ZPD is the range of tasks that are too difficult for a child to master alone but can be learned with guidance and assistance of adults or more skilled children. The lower limit of the ZPD is the level of skill reached by the child working independently, whereas the upper limit is the level of additional responsibility the child can accept with the assistance of the instructor. A student in a flip classroom applies this style of learning into his work by taking what he learns and demonstrates through a level of independence in the assignment. If the student falls at the lower limit of the zone of proximal development the instructor is there to assist him. Flip classrooms can be a great facilitator in developing student understanding and collaboration. Flip Classrooms and traditional instructional design models Robert Gagne is a behaviorist who identified nine events of instruction. His first event is to gain the attention of the learner. In a flip classroom this can be accomplished through the teacher video. As with any lesson it is important to “hook” the student’s interest so they will listen or watch what is being presented. In a flip classroom there is more opportunity for teachers to be creative in grabbing a student’s interest. The next event Gagne identifies is to inform the leaner of the objective. This can successfully be accomplished in a flip classroom environment because teachers have the ability to incorporate in the video repetition as it relates to the objective. By repeating what the students will be learning it provides reminders to what they are learning which in turn reinforces the goal(s) of the lesson, what they are expected to accomplish, and how they will be able to use the information. Step three of Gagne’s events of instruction is to recall prior knowledge. In a flip classroom environment the teacher will be able to incorporate recall of prior knowledge within the video the student will watch. It can also be reinforced the day before as the assignment is being give. In the lesson the teacher develops she will provide scaffolding techniques to stimulate this recollection. In a flip classroom a teacher has the ability to be repetitive which further reinforces to this third event. A teacher will also be able to provide additional detail, hints, information, concept, etc. to further stimulate the student’s memory. Part of the at home assignment can include concept maps which will help learners to remember prior knowledge along with new knowledge being generated. This will help the student “chunk” new information which is Gagne’s fourth event in his instructional model. Events five through nine are reinforced during the in class activities and assignments. Gagne’s nine steps can be modeled in a flip classroom because ultimately the goal in this style of learning is to provide more hands on time with the teacher directing the students. This way of teaching helps students when they are incorporating new information and developing new ideas. This way of teaching and thinking falls in line with Bloom’s Taxonomy creating, evaluating, and analyzing learning domains. Shortcomings of traditional instructional software Aaron Sams (2011) in his article Setting the flip straight explains in a brief format the history of this concept. There have been many versions of flip classrooms which have been around for several years. For example, screencasting model or vodcasting. It is important to remember that the Khan Academy, screencasting, or other models are not to be a substitute for an actual course. These styles of learning do not replace the role of a live teacher. Many opponents to technology and blended learning believe that this style of educating is not a logical curriculum of study. They believe it does not engage students at all the cerebral platforms in which a student needs in order to master subjects and successfully learn. Sams stated, “Khan Academy is great for learning about lots of different subjects. But it’s not really adequate for learning those subjects on a level that really makes a difference in the world” (Sams, 2011, retrieved from http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-shedding-light-on-the-confusion-critique-and-hype-801.php). He believes for knowledge to occur it takes more than “watching videos (or lectures) and doing exercises. It takes hard work (by both the learner and the instructor)” (Sams, 2011, retrieved fromhttp://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-shedding-light-on-the-confusion-critique-and-hype-801.php). In order for successful uses of technology in the classroom, as that required by flip classrooms it does require teachers to be prepared. This requires professional development geared towards preparing teachers to use technology. Harold Wenglinsky (1998) conducted a national study of technology’s impact on mathematic achievement. The findings showed when computers were used students in fourth and eighth grade achieved academic success in mathematics. Seymour Papert and Idit Harel (1991) have initiated the learning by design model to educational technology by having the student be the designer and creator of such software. This places the student as the developer of programs for other students to learn. Seymour Papert defines constructionism as "Giving children good things to do so that they can learn by doing much better than they could before." (retrieved from http://www.papert.org/articles/const_inst/const_inst1.html)