While these two teachers, Bergman and Sams, are widely credited with starting a "Flipped Classroom" revolution, I expect they were not the first to try teaching this way. After all, years ago when my high school English teachers said "read this, then come to class prepared to discuss it" they were essentially following a "flipped classroom" model. There is, however, something in the zeitgeist that Bergman and Sams' "flipping" language has been picked up by a swath of established media including the Globe and Mail , the Harvard Education Letter, the New York Times, and the Economist. Beyond print media, the 2011 TED Talk "Let's use video to reinvent education" by Khan Academy founder and high profile "flipping" advocate Sal Khan titled has been viewed nearly 1.5 million times. This is the degree of dissemination into the wider culture is more than most pedagogical approaches ever see, and it means that if "flipping" has not yet come up in a conversation with friends or a parent it might surface soon.
Flipping Pros and Cons
There is much support for the Flipped Classroom model, but also much criticism. Here is a short list from what I have observed and read, perhaps you can add an item or two?
Pros
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Cons
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| · It assists differentiation: students can learn at different rates by pausing or replaying the lesson
· Flipped lessons can be more dynamic than class lessons by including interactive and authentic learning elements. · It supports problem based learning and critical thinking by learning prerequisite knowledge out of class to apply in class · Students have peer and teacher support as they practice · Some students like videos, and will watch them when they would not do other homework. |
· It undermines differentiation: one lesson for all students, and the teacher can't check understanding during the lesson
· It affirms lecture style rote-learning · Lessons day and night? Students need a break! · Bill Gates funds Khan Academy, which draws a connection between the "flipping" and teacher performance discussions. |
And the Students Say…
In November I tried out the flipped class model for one unit in grade 10 academic math. I chose an algebra unit because the most difficult aspect of the unit was learning how to apply the knowledge of a handful of factoring skills, which requires practice.Student feedback was mixed. One student who struggled with the course liked the approach and wrote that it was "better than homework at home, easier to watch a lesson and practice at school." Another said: "I loved these, wish every lesson had this, helps studying, etc." Also in support, another wrote: "I could watch it over and over until I understood it." Others however did not like the model. One student said: "I didn't like this because I forgot the questions I had [at home]. Also, if I was tired I could just skim through the video without learning anything." An honest student admitted "Didn't bother to watch."
From looking at Moodle reports I know that most students in the class watched all nine of the videos lessons I made for the unit. 25% of students missed two or more videos, but overall the class completed this homework more regularly than written exercises in other units. The class had developed a fairly good pattern of working in groups, so I found that with heterogeneous groups there was a lot of good peer-tutoring in class. Through testing this class showed better understanding of this unit than other classes of the same course I taught last year, but this was also a stronger class over all. If you experiment with "flipping" please let me know what you find!
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