The Flipped Classroom, part 1

In this post, I’d like to focus on an active methodology known as the flipped classroom. As seems to be the case with any topic in education, the flipped classroom has been the subject of much debate, interpretation, praise, and criticism. Come along with me as I practice for the theoretical framework of my TFM and attempt to unpack this educational model. This will be the first part of two blog posts on this subject and will focus primarily on exploring the first part of the flipped classroom: learning at home.

Let’s start with a definition. This, however, is not as easy as it sounds. We can look to Lage, Platt, and Treglia (2000) for a basic definition that has been repeatedly upheld in literature on the flipped classroom. According to these experts, who adopted an approached that they denominated “inverting the classroom” to teach university-level microeconomics, in a flipped classroom “events that have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take place outside the classroom and vice versa” (32). For these professors, this meant taking economics lectures that were traditionally delivered in-person and finding ways to make them available outside of class time, whether through narrated PowerPoints or videotaped lectures. Then, in class, they would perform economics demonstrations with the students so the students could see the applications of the economic principles that they had previously studied prior to the class.

Personally, I was surprised that these educators decided to adopt this approach over twenty years ago, when access to the Internet was very different than it is today. It seems that these economic students still had to go to a computer lab to access the narrated PowerPoints, or to the lab to check out or copy the lectures, which would have had to be viewed on a VCR. With virtual classrooms all the rage now, current-day versions of the flipped classroom have the potential to be much more streamlined. Indeed, perhaps the argument could be made that with the current global health crisis and the previous mass forced transition to remote learning, we are already well on our way to implementing elements of the flipped classroom.

In the chronology of the flipped classroom, it’s important to note that Lage, Platt, and Treglia did not actually use the term “flipped classroom”, preferring the phrase “inverted classroom” instead. According to Vereş and Muntean (2021), the people generally credited with coining the term “flipped classroom” are Bergmann and Sams, who created the Flipped Learning Network in 2012. This organization adds more detail to the definition of the flipped classroom, saying that the main idea behind the approach is that “direct instruction” occurs in each student’s “individual learning space” (usually online and at home), while the classroom, “the group learning space”, becomes a space for students to work together toward the application of the concepts under study (Flipped Learning Network, cited in Vereş & Muntean, 2021, p. 58).

These definitions leave us with two specific parts that are essential to a flipped classroom: first, the activities that students complete outside of class and, second, the activities that they complete in class. There seems to be a difference of opinions about the type of activities that can constitute the initial outside-of-class learning within the parameters of the flipped classroom, particularly with regard to the use of technology. For some academics, technology is not necessarily a required element in a flipped classroom. Mohan (2018), for example, points out that in the definition presented by the Flipped Learning Network, technological elements are completely absent. While she recognizes that many instructors who utilize the flipped classroom do indeed incorporate online videos into the students’ learning, she maintains that “the video is not the pedagogy; it is only a means of achieving the ultimate objective of the pedagogy” (2). In other words, online videos are merely “one possible tool” (Mohan, 2018, 2) within the arsenal of the flipped classroom, but should not be considered a defining element.

Other experts, however, disagree. Bishop and Verleger (2013) assert that “direct computer-based individual instruction outside the classroom” (Defining the flipped classroom section, para. 3) is an integral part of the flipped classroom. In fact, in their survey of flipped classroom approaches, they excluded from their study classes that did not use information “presented in an audiovisual format” (Research on the flipped classroom section, para. 2). From their perspective, simply assigning reading to be done before a classroom session is not enough for a given course to be considered flipped. Furthermore, as they correctly point out, the out-of-class portion of the flipped classroom must necessarily be compulsory. In other words, watching videos and interacting with content outside the classroom is not merely studying, but rather learning. Studying implies reviewing information that was previously introduced to the students; in the flipped classroom, however, students are often introduced to new information at home, and then review it in class under the supervision and support of the teacher. Perhaps, then another way to view the flipped classroom is that it is a type of class in which students “learn” at home and “study” through collaboration and meaningful interactions at school.

Personally, I’m in favor of incorporating technology into instruction whenever and wherever possible. Quite simply, I view technology as the way of the future, and even more importantly, as the way of the present. Smartphones and videos are such a part of Spanish students’ daily lives currently, at least as far as I can see, that it more makes sense to embrace technology as a tool rather than fight against it. At the same time, I’m not sure I am in complete agreement with Bishop and Verleger’s technology requirement. My views align more closely with Mohan’s; learning outside of the class is, to me, the end goal of the first part of the flipped classroom. We as teachers should use a variety of tools to ensure that this learning takes place, and I see no reason that required readings outside of class can’t be part of the toolbox. I do believe, nonetheless, that if we are going to have students read to learn content outside of the classroom, then we need to provide simple reading guides or comprehension questions to help them identify which information is most important. The same is true of videos: if I’m going to assign a video to be watched outside of class, then I am also going to prepare comprehension exercises that must be completed during or shortly after the viewing. For me, videos and traditional readings are two types of “texts”, and the way that students interact with these “texts” need not be drastically different for each.

Even given the debate that I’ve just summarized, the first part of the flipped classroom is relatively easy for me to envision; simple exercises – most likely videos in my case – to help students learn the target content. Making videos oneself requires a considerable amount of time, effort, and technical know-how on the teacher’s part, but luckily there are resources such as YouTube and EdModo to help educators select and curate videos for the student to watch. EdModo even has a useful feature that allows us to see what percentage of a video students have watched, which makes it easier to hold them accountable for doing their learning.

The tricky bit, I think, is helping the students get used to this style of learning, They would have to be made aware, probably more than once or twice, of the expectation that they would watch the videos at home and complete the exercises. Furthermore, teachers would have to clearly specify the viewing deadlines and the designated videos to watch for each session, showing students in class where to access the content and perhaps even having the whole class watch a video and do the exercises together so that they can all begin to see what they have to do. Additionally, before trying to flip a lot of content, it would be beneficial to review or teach the students different learning strategies, such as trying to summarize the content or writing down questions about parts they don’t understand. Again, these would be good activities for the students to practice in class before trying them at home. Finally, it is probably best to ease students into learning at home by assigning one or two practice videos of new content for at home viewing, followed by a discussion or even re-explanation during the following in-class session.

References

Bishop, J. L. & Verleger, M. A. (2013). The Flipped Classroom: A survey of the research. Paper presented at the 120th American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition. Atlanta.

Lage, M., Platt, G., & Treglia, M. (2000). Inverting the classroom: A gateway to creating an inclusive learning environment. The Journal of Economic Education, 31(1), 30-43. DOI:10.1080/00220480009596759.

Mohan, D. (2018). Flipped Classroom, flipped teaching and flipped learning in the foreign/second language post-secondary classroom. Nouvelle Revue Synergies Canada (11), 1-12. DOI:10.21083/nrsc.v0i11.4016.

Veres, S. & Muntean, A. (2021). The Flipped Classroom as an instructional model. Romanian Review of Geographical Education, 10(1), 56-67.