Flipping the Classroom Challenges Opportunities from the Student

Flipping the Classroom: Challenges & Opportunities from the Student Perspective Karen Benway University of Vermont

What is a flipped classroom? • Typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed • First exposure to new material occurs outside classroom through reading & videos • Class time is repurposed as a workshop

Why flip the classroom? • Increase student engagement • Improve learning • Offer an experience that cannot be duplicated in an online environment

What did my flipped classroom look like? Text: Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data (Lock 5) Before Class: Reading, videos, prep questions (Wiley. PLUS) During Class: Warm up worksheet Review of learning objectives with Q&A Activity

Early Semester Feedback Time spent preparing ≈ 45 minutes/class meeting. “I like the warm up worksheet because it gives me a chance to practice problems and working with my classmates helps me understand. ” “In class activities keep class fun and solidify the learning. ” “I have enjoyed the flipped learning style so far, and I really like how we do work in class that complements our homework. ” “I am feeling more responsible for my learning than in my other classes. ” “If I haven’t completed the preparation, then I just don’t come to class because I know I’m not going to be ready to do the work. ” “I would like more time spent going over the reading. Class moves quickly!” “Sometimes I tune out in class because we are going over material that I already know from doing the prep the night before. ”

How My Approach Evolved • Difficulties with physical classroom prevented the “differentiated learning” environment that I envisioned. • More review of material in readings & videos. • Allowed students to complete “prep questions” after class.

End of Semester Feedback 39/48 enrolled students returned surveys. • 74% completed at least 90% of preparation • 69% skim instead of reading completely • 92% find videos somewhat (35%) or very (57%) helpful • None felt that the flipped format made coming to class less important

“What were some things that you enjoyed about the flipped format? ” “It felt great to do the practice in class with help from peers and teachers at our convenience. ” “I liked the activities we did in class. It helped reinforce the prep work, and going over the activities after helped my understanding of the material. ” “I liked taking notes outside of class because it gave me time to process through them without feeling rushed. ” “I put more time on this class outside of class time than I would have otherwise and this has helped with my understanding of the material greatly. ” “It takes me time to grasp concepts. In lectures I feel other students get impatient with me slowing the class down. I liked being able to do the preparation at my own pace, watch things more than once, and be ready to ask questions when I come to class. “

“What would have made the flipped format more effective for you? ” “Towards the end of the semester, we were allowed to go back and complete the homework the day after we did the inclass activity, and I wish we could have done that all semester. ” “More reminders about what we needed to do. A lot of responsibility was put on the student. ” “Learn more new things in class. ” “Maybe do an overview of the reading before we start the warm up. ” “Nothing, couldn’t have been better- loved it much more!”

End of Semester Assessment Common Final Exam: Scores were similar for all of my sections. Mean Section A (Flipped) Section C (Traditional) Section E (Traditional) 83. 3 80. 0 79. 1 Course grades: Distribution of grades (A, B, C) similar, except that no students in flipped section finished the course lower than C.