Flipping the Script: Revolutionizing Education with Flipped Classrooms

Did you know that traditional lecture-based teaching methods often result in low engagement rates and retention? It's true. Even if a lecture is taking place and students are quiet and compliant, it does not mean they are engaged or retaining what is being taught. Students are basically showing something called "ritual compliance", which results in low attention and low commitment to the lesson. Below is a graphic of Schlechty's 5 levels of student engagement. How do we move engagement from a Type 3 to a Type 5 of high attention and high commitment to the lesson? One idea is a flipped classroom.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328200591_Ambient_intelligence_in_a_smart_classroom_for_assessing_students'_engagement_levels

A flipped classroom is a new and innovative way of teaching. The idea behind this method is that lecture-based teaching or direct instruction is not an ideal way to spend class time. Instead, students should listen to the lecture or direct instruction at home and use class as a time to be involved in collaboration, creating, analyzing and synthesizing what they learned in the lecture. Basically, it is what it sounds like- flipped, lecture at home and then homework during class. However, in this model, the homework will be engaging and students will have to use more higher level thinking skills while in the classroom.

The advances in technology have made it easier for flipped classroom models to be implemented. Teachers can create their direct instruction by making their own videos, finding videos already made, using reading material or even audio files. It's important that students are taught note-taking skills and that all students have access to the materials. If all students have equal access to materials, it's important that they know the importance of doing their work at home so that they can participate in the collaboration effectively.

During class time, the teacher will facilitate activities that will solidify the lecture that students learned at home. The biggest benefit is that the activities will involve hands on, real-world application, and collaboration. Students will be engaged in the activities because they will be interesting and fun. Students will learn in cooperative groups and spend more time speaking with each other and the teacher about the topic. It is proven that students who speak and teach the objective to one another retain the information faster.

In class activities in a flipped classroom can be anything from group presentations to using Plickers to have a quiz. Here are some ideas:

1. Case Studies- This is a great idea to use in high school classrooms. Students will work in groups, usually 3-5 students per group. They will be given a case study or scenario to read regarding the topic that they should have already learned about. An open-ended question is presented and students must come up with a solution for the case study.

2. Class Discussion- This is pretty basic, but the teacher can facilitate different structures of discussion such as whole class, partners, small-groups using different Kagan Structures. Teachers can also facilitate socratic seminars to get the students to discuss and think critically.

3. Presentations- Students can do this in groups, partners, or alone. They must create a presentation about the knowledge they learned. The types of presentations are endless: PowerPoints, videos, poems, essays, podcasts, artwork, etc. The stipulation is that they they must follow the guidelines or rubric and it must pertain to the topic they are learning.

4. Quizzes and Games- Gamification is an excellent way to keep students engaged in the classroom and research suggests that it is a great tool for a flipped classroom. There are a plethora of ways to use gamification: online games, whole class games (Jeopardy comes to mind), and quizzing games such as using Plickers or Kahoot quizzes. Using a little friendly competition to keep kids learning works miracles.

There are a few challenges that can arise when

trying to implement a flipped classroom. The first one is equity of resources. This cannot work if students don't have the same access to resources. If the teacher is using a video based lecture, all students must have access to the video. This works well in a classroom with a 1:1 ratio of computer to students. Another challenge is that going from traditional learning to a flipped classroom can be hard for parents to understand because it's such a huge change from how they most likely learned in school. Therefore, its important to take it slow. Start out by trying it on a single lesson, then expand to a unit, and then on to the rest of the curriculum. A flipped classroom is also work load heavy for the teacher. Use resources that you already have or are already created when you first start. For example, there are thousands of YouTube videos that could be utilized. Also, collaborate with other classroom teachers to get information and help each other. It's also incredibly important to communicate effectively the expectations of a flipped classroom. Explain the benefits to parents to get them on board with this new strategy.

Flipping your classroom will be challenging when starting out, but the engagement benefits will soon shine though. Once your students get the hang of how it will work, they will be able to see the benefits as well.