Have you heard of the flipped classroom?
If your answer is no, here’s a quick overview: the flipped classroom is a popular learning model which reverses the typical lesson/homework elements in the classroom. So, for example, students might view a video lecture at home and then spend their class time doing “homework”: exercises, projects, or discussions.
It’s an interesting strategy. I wrote about it some time ago, and came to the conclusion that flipped or not, all classrooms should offer the opportunity for learners to think, talk, and elaborate on their learning (preferably with others).
Bonwell and Eison (1991) call this ‘active learning’: learning which encourages students to do things and think about the things they are doing.
When an article appeared in my inbox this morning called “Research: Using Active Learning More Important than Flipping the Classroom”, I was understandably thrilled.
The article is a report on the results of a research project that looked at active learning in both a ‘flipped’ and ‘non-flipped’ classroom. The conclusion? Active learning is the key: a “flipped classroom doesn’t produce higher pupil learning outcomes than a non-flipped classroom when both use an active learning approach”.
Want to read the full study? Check out the article here.
In the meantime, here’s my original piece:
The flipped classroom and how to learn more effectively
Don’t get me wrong. From what I can tell from my corner of the world (I live in New Zealand), the creators of the flipped classroom, Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann, are terrific teachers. The two created the flipped classroom model as an answer to an overarching concern: what is the best use of face-to-face class time?
As a solution, Sams created chemistry podcasts which could be viewed asynchronously by students – at any time and any place – so that in the classroom he could focus on getting students to applying the knowledge.
It’s become a popular teaching method with many supporters (just look at Khan Academy, a website which provides thousands of videos on a wide range of subjects).
The basic principle is this: teachers have their pupils watch a video lecture at home (or at their own pace in the classroom), and then apply practical skills in the classroom where the teacher is there to guide and assist them.
But is this great teaching?
Well, elements of it are – especially the formative assessment/formative teaching that happens in a ‘flipped’ classroom.
Here’s my beef, though: this should have been happening all along. And it shouldn’t need a flipped classroom to be achieved.
Just look at the work of researcher John Hattie – he’s well versed on the power of formative assessment (often called ‘feedback’) and rates the right sort of feedback to the learner as being one of the most effective influences on learning.
But in actual fact, I think viewing chemistry podcasts (for example) at home is problematic. Why? Because the immediate opportunity to offer feedback isn’t there, and neither is the power of explicit teaching and immediate peer and teacher interaction.
You see, for learning to be at its most effective, there should be three elements:
- Explicit teaching, so that learners know from the expert teacher how to go about the learning
- A chance for the learners to think, talk, and elaborate on that learning, preferably with others (their peers and their teacher) until they have “got it”
- The opportunity to deepen the learning from experience.
What the flipped classroom has got right is that there is explicit instruction (albeit by video), there is feedback (hopefully the following day), and, vitally, the flipped classroom creates meaningful homework. Too often homework is ‘busy work’ done to please the parent or teacher (or even the learner), rather than done to learn.
However, in our literacy work, we’ve seen such great benefits coming from classroom communities talking through their understanding of concepts and strategies. My point? As long as teachers know how to foster a rich learning model, my money is still on the in-classroom experience as the pedagogical engine for learning.
– Neale Pitches
What do you think? Leave a comment below!