In
traditional face-to-face business courses taught by three different
instructors, students identified the courses as difficult and hard to pass.
Students were commuter students, who sometimes had multiple jobs, family
responsibilities, and other commitments. Sometimes, students were unable to
attend class and when they did attend, they came unprepared. Students were
diverse from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In addition, the
instructors observed that students were disinterested and disengaged in the
class. So, the instructors redesigned four traditional courses to a flipped
course and studied the effectiveness of the flipped courses as compared with
the traditional courses. The courses were taught as both traditional and
flipped courses over eight semesters from spring 2015 to fall 2018. Instruction
happened outside the classroom, and if students encountered learning issues or
had questions, they could contact the instructor or use a discussion forum in
the learning management system. Prior to coming to the next class, students
completed a short online quiz or low-level skills worksheet that helped the
instructors assess student understanding of the material. The instructors found
evidence of academic improvement by students in flipped courses compared with
traditional courses, a general positive attitude toward flipped courses, and
lower withdrawal rates of students from flipped courses without having to
compromise on course content (Sarkar, Ford & Manzo, 2019).
Malik, Khan, and Maqsood (2018) found similar results in which the
flipped approach improved physical and cognitive engagement of students.
Physical engagement referred to active participation and the application of
vigor and effort focused toward the completion of a task. Cognitive engagement
was the amount of attention, concentration, and focus toward an activity or a
task. The researchers used a mixed method approach to compare and contrast the
qualitative data and the results of quantitative data. The participants
included undergraduate students in an engineering class. From the beginning of
the semester until the second exam, students were taught using the traditional
mode of instruction. Then, the flipped classroom approach was implemented after
the second exam until final exams. Using the flipped classroom approach, the
instructors provided students with video lectures, research articles, reference
books, and PowerPoint slides a week before the class session. Students brought
lecture notes (graded activity), which included key points of the topic and
questions to ask during the question and answer session. During the
face-to-face class, there was a 25-minute question and answer session based on
the lecture notes of students. Group activities included case studies,
historical software issues, and real-life scenarios. Each group shared the
findings of the activity with the entire class. As a result, the traditional
lecture moved from the classroom (group space) into individual space. The
face-to-face class time was best used for student interaction and engagement.
In conclusion, the flipped classroom changed the way the
instructors mentioned above taught their face-to-face courses. Whether you flip
an entire course or portions of a course, students benefit from the active learning and
collaborative approach. Higher order thinking is done in the class in the
presence of the instructor and the instructor can interact one-on-one or in
small groups with students. Learning rather than teaching becomes the goal and
students begin to take more ownership of their own learning. Learners are no
longer passive recipients of knowledge but active learners.
References:
Bergmann,
J., & Sams, A. (2014). Flipped learning. Learning & Leading with
Technology, 41(7), 18–23.
Malik, Z. A., Khan, S. S., & Maqsood, M. (2018). Exploring the
relationship between student engagement and new pedagogical approaches. Journal
of Educational Technology Systems, 47(2), 170-192.
doi:10.1177/0047239518788281
Sarkar,
N., Ford, W. & Manzo, C. (2019). To flip or not to flip: What the evidence
suggests, Journal of Education for
Business, doi:10.1080/08832323.2019.1606771
Cite this blog:
Washington, G. (2019, July 28). The flipped classroom [Blog post]. Retrieved
from https://pedagogybeforetechnology.blogspot.com/
