Flipped Classroom as a New Form of Learning

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” What was he really saying to educators? It is my belief that Dr. King is making it very clear that true education is a balance of intense critical thinking with a touch of true character? This, dear reader, is the very essence of today’s struggle as an educator. How do we, bound by test scores, teach critical thinking in addition to positive character traits? In what way do we show students that an education is a foundation of a successful life while still attaining scores high enough to keep the school’s grade at a desirable score? One effective model that has been created and successfully executed is the flipped classroom model. With the correct usage and execution, the flipped classroom has the ability to teacher students to think critically and become more responsible for their education.

A Little History:

The Flipped Classroom Model. What is the flipped classroom model? Authors and creators, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, explains it like this: “…that which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class.” (Bergmann, J., & Sams, A., 2012, pg 13). Students now have the opportunities to learn at home and practice at school with the person that matters most, their teacher! 

But what motivates such a drastic change in education? According to a research study conducted by Emilie Naccarato and Gulden Karakok (2015), three common motivators include: “(1) To focus more on and provide more time for exercises and application problems, (2) to create a collaborative learning environment and (3) to improve higher order thinking and metacognitive skills” (p. 972). Many students say “I get it when I’m with the teacher in class, but then I’m lost when I go home to do my homework.” Hence, the motivator to establish something like a flipped classroom. Now students can understand it as they walk through the lessons at home and also understand it as they try the independent practice in school.

Flipped Classroom Model Implementation: Teachers who practice the flipped classroom model start with the teaching of Cornell notetaking. This way the lectures are more effective. They show the students how to take notes and how to write down questions that they may have through watching the video lectures. Through a prerecording, students watch the videos on their laptops, smartphones, etc. as their “homework assignment”. The teacher then creates activities and practice problems for the student to work on individually throughout class. This flips the usual traditional classroom practices of lectures at school and practice problems at home, which in returns, flips the usual struggle of reaching desired test scores. It is also a good idea to use some form of pre-class assignment versus blindly trusting the students to watch the videos and take their own personal notes. Another suggestion for implementation is the length of the video. Videos should be no longer than 15 minutes. In the event that the class is stuck on a topic, mini-lectures are implemented, in addition to what would be homework problems, in the tradition classroom.

Flipped Classroom Benefits: Flipping the classroom minimizes the amount of things that a teacher must focus on. In a traditional classroom, teachers must review previous material, teach new material, and teach students to understand and analyze the new material. Flipping the classroom eliminates the teaching and maybe even reviewing portion of this very underrated list. Now teachers have more time to focus on teaching students how to thinking critically and understanding their work. As a result, there is an increase in test scores and student understanding. Michelle Crouch (2014) gives three benefits of the flipped classroom model. She says there are more interactions, less stress and high scores (p. 59). According to her article, she found a survey that shows, “nearly 70 percent of "flipped" students had increased standardized test scores as compared to traditionally taught students” (p. 59). The benefits of flipped classroom are also evident in the lower level class of students. Many times the students who struggle the most with their homework assignments are the students who have lower GPAs, IEPs, 504s, etc. This model is also very beneficial to them as well. In an article published by Independent Schools, in which they wrote about Professors Gross’ experience with flipped classrooms; the writer quotes Mr. Gross saying “Women and low-GPA students’ performance gets pushed up pretty significantly, but we feel most students get something more out of this” (2016).

 My Personal Opinion:

As an educator is it my belief that the flipped classroom model is a model that will make a positive change in school systems around the world. Students not only want to learn but they really want to understand too. This method is so beautiful because my students now have the ability to pause, stop, and even fast forward all lectures. They can come to class prepared to ask as many questions as possible. Even better than that, they learn to become responsible for their own learning! Students can and will remain engaged in school when they feel they can be involved and not lectured at for 90 minutes every day. This model really has the potential to change the world and its view of education!

References

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day.

Crouch, M. (2014). The Flipped Classroom. Scholastic Parent & Child, 21(5), 59.

Millard, E. (2012). 5 Reasons FLIPPED Classrooms Work. University Business, 15(11), 26-29.

Naccarato, E., & Karakok, G. (2015). Expectations and implementations of the flipped classroom model in undergraduate mathematics courses. International Journal Of Mathematical Education In Science & Technology, 46(7), 968-978.

Sams, A., & Bergmann, J. (2013). Flip Your Students' Learning. Educational Leadership, 70(6), 16-20.

Study shows female students and those with lower GPAs benefit most from "flipped classroom" teaching. (2016). Independent School, 75(2), 10.