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Flipped classrooms becoming more prevalent in higher education

by admin on 2/8/2012 • Category: Online Education

The concept of the flipped classroom is gaining traction across higher education. Providing faculty with a more flexible approach to delivering lectures, and students with a more engaging way to learn, flipped classroom models are proving to be a valuable tool in an educator's repertoire.

According to an infographic published by education blog MindShift, the concept of the flipped classroom was pioneered by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, two teachers at Woodland Park High School in Colorado, in 2007.

They began recording lectures and posting them online so students who were absent could access course materials. The videos became more popular with the student body, so Bergmann and Sams began using classroom time to conduct homework assignments and mastery exercises, and requiring students to view lectures online after school. The technique soon gained in popularity with other teachers and faculty in higher education, and is becoming an increasingly common practice in many colleges and universities.

Flipped classrooms enable students to learn through doing, something that can have a significant impact on the way that individuals learn and retain information. For students who struggle with certain parts of their studies, teachers and faculty assume the role of adviser and guide, assisting students with the practical application of knowledge covered in lectures. This increasingly individualized, mentoring approach to teaching has had demonstrable effects.

According to the infographic, the number of students failing freshman English in traditional teaching models was 50 percent, and 44 percent failed freshman math. There were also 736 cases related to student discipline in a single semester. Following the transition to a flipped teaching model, the number of students who failed freshman English fell to 19 percent, and only 13 percent of students failed freshman math. There was also a significant reduction in the number of disciplinary incidents reported, with the figure falling to 249 in one semester.

"Flipping the classroom has transformed our teaching practice," Bergmann and Sams wrote in an article published by The Daily Riff. "We no longer stand in front of our students and talk at them for 30 to 60 minutes at a time.  This radical change has allowed us to take on a different role with our students.  Since the role of the teacher has changed from presenter of content to learning coach, we spend our time talking to kids.  We are answering questions, working with small groups, and guiding the learning of each student individually."

David Marcey, a developmental biology professor at California Lutheran University, recently discovered that the flipped classroom served him and his students well. Marcey decided to test the effectiveness of the two teaching models for himself by splitting his class in two. One half would continue to learn in the traditional fashion, whereas the other would be taught in the flipped classroom environment. Marcey soon found that students in the flipped group were performing significantly better than the individuals learning in the traditional manner.

Marcey said that his experiment actually failed, as students in the traditional group discovered the other group was making use of web-based videos and started watching them. While he admits that his experiment was flawed, the increase in student learning has convinced him that flipped teaching models are the way forward. He says he plans to flip all of his future classes by offering what he calls "cinelectures" online through YouTube, and focusing on practical applications of knowledge in his classes.

"I liked lectures," Marcey said in a statement. "I was happy to listen to someone and scribble as fast as I could and review those notes and read the book and put it together. But most students aren't like that. This generation in particular is much more video-oriented."

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