The Flipped Classroom
The flipped classroom strategy inverts the traditional framework of attending lectures, completing homework and undergoing assessment. Instead, in this relatively new concept, the students have access to study the material ahead of time, and use the class time with the instructor for useful activities such as discussion, problem solving and one on one time with the instructor. “This approach assumes that there is no difference between a student listening to a lecture individually and with other students in class (Flipped Classroom, n.d).
A flipped classroom generally has three components to it;
Online content - this could be lecture slides, videos, podcasts and images
Digital Assessment - in the form of quizzes, polls, and forums
Active learning - using class time to establish a deeper understanding of the content (What is flipping?, n.d)
Instructors can post the content online for the students to go over in their own time, at their own pace. Then, digital assessment tools can be used to assess any issues, gaps in understanding and questions from the students, which can then be evaluated and used to create a lesson plan for the in class time.
This strategy is beneficial for learners as it “fits adult education values of active learner engagement and self direction” (Merriam & Bierema, 2014). It offers more time to address gaps in the student’s knowledge, solve any problems that arise with the content and give learners ownership over when and how they learn, to a certain extent.
For the instructor, this idea gives the opportunity to use more digital tools such as images, videos, slides, podcasts or webinars. The flip side of this is the potential extra time it will take to create the content in the initial phase. Another limitation of this concept is the dependence on technology. Not all students have access to reliable internet which would be a significant road block to this strategy.
Despite some documented cons to this approach, the flipped classroom idea can successfully bridge the gap between pedagogy and andragogy in some subjects that traditionally have been in person lecture focused. I personally would welcome this at the college I instruct at to engage students a little more and offer more one on one assistance with potentially difficult subjects.
