Blog Post Week 4: The Flipped Classroom
Blog Post Week 4: The Flipped Classroom
The concept of the flipped classroom is an interesting one. I believe there can be many pros to a flipped classroom, but I do feel that with the flipped classroom, there needs to be balance.
I remember participating in flipped classrooms as a student growing up, and as an introvert myself, sometimes feeling a big a bit overwhelmed when the teacher would propose this idea and put us into groups. I'm a visual learner, and I'm not too shy about asking questions. However, when it comes to participating in group discussions with my peers, I would sometimes feel a bit of anxiety about being in a group, especially if I was paired up with a group that was hesitant to participate in discussion. I would lead the group if I had to, but I hated feeling like I was in charge of leading my own learning. It can often feel like a lot of pressure as a student. I remember the teacher coming around, telling our group, "ok group, you have to talk about XYZ" and just watching the students in my group continue to sit there, not participating. I would feel anxious because not only was my learning suddenly riding on the backs of students that did not want to participate, but so was my participation grade.
The flipped classroom can be a wonderful tool when students want to be engaged. I think as a teacher, if you create some consistency in that students know 2 times a week, there will be a flipped classroom, for example, they might become more comfortable with it over time. The topics have to be engaging, and the material has to make sense. For example, I wouldn't want to be a student in a physics class, learning a complicated formula for the first time in a flipped setting. But once I learn the formula, it would be cool to apply that formula through group discussion/activity in a flipped classroom.
On the "flip side" I will say that when a flipped classroom works, it's VERY successful. I remember being in flipped classroom scenario where the entire class was engaged and we looked forward to attending that class. It didn't feel mundane and boring, but instead we'd stand on our feet most of the class, either in a competition type setting, or some sort of setting where we were so engaged with out mini group, the class flew by. I feel like sometimes a flipped classroom can also bring relief to students in other ways as well. Students receive so much homework, that I feel like a flipped classroom can actually be beneficial to their workload at home. By providing videos they can watch, or other online activities, it takes away some of the pressure of constantly reading directly from their textbook, and allows them to think about topics in other ways. The work is more engaging, that it can feel lighter, and not as daunting to do at home.
As a teacher, I would definitely incorporate a flipped class to my syllabus, but I would make my class balanced. Maybe the classroom wouldn't be flipped every day, but rather a few times a week. I love that a flipped classroom would allow me to bring videos, or other readings outside of the texbook to my students, as I feel business relies on those types of supplemental material to really understand it in context with the real world application. I especially like the idea that they can watch those videos for homework, think about it, and come ready to participate in discussion during class time.
The concept of the flipped classroom is an interesting one. I believe there can be many pros to a flipped classroom, but I do feel that with the flipped classroom, there needs to be balance.
I remember participating in flipped classrooms as a student growing up, and as an introvert myself, sometimes feeling a big a bit overwhelmed when the teacher would propose this idea and put us into groups. I'm a visual learner, and I'm not too shy about asking questions. However, when it comes to participating in group discussions with my peers, I would sometimes feel a bit of anxiety about being in a group, especially if I was paired up with a group that was hesitant to participate in discussion. I would lead the group if I had to, but I hated feeling like I was in charge of leading my own learning. It can often feel like a lot of pressure as a student. I remember the teacher coming around, telling our group, "ok group, you have to talk about XYZ" and just watching the students in my group continue to sit there, not participating. I would feel anxious because not only was my learning suddenly riding on the backs of students that did not want to participate, but so was my participation grade.
The flipped classroom can be a wonderful tool when students want to be engaged. I think as a teacher, if you create some consistency in that students know 2 times a week, there will be a flipped classroom, for example, they might become more comfortable with it over time. The topics have to be engaging, and the material has to make sense. For example, I wouldn't want to be a student in a physics class, learning a complicated formula for the first time in a flipped setting. But once I learn the formula, it would be cool to apply that formula through group discussion/activity in a flipped classroom.
On the "flip side" I will say that when a flipped classroom works, it's VERY successful. I remember being in flipped classroom scenario where the entire class was engaged and we looked forward to attending that class. It didn't feel mundane and boring, but instead we'd stand on our feet most of the class, either in a competition type setting, or some sort of setting where we were so engaged with out mini group, the class flew by. I feel like sometimes a flipped classroom can also bring relief to students in other ways as well. Students receive so much homework, that I feel like a flipped classroom can actually be beneficial to their workload at home. By providing videos they can watch, or other online activities, it takes away some of the pressure of constantly reading directly from their textbook, and allows them to think about topics in other ways. The work is more engaging, that it can feel lighter, and not as daunting to do at home.
As a teacher, I would definitely incorporate a flipped class to my syllabus, but I would make my class balanced. Maybe the classroom wouldn't be flipped every day, but rather a few times a week. I love that a flipped classroom would allow me to bring videos, or other readings outside of the texbook to my students, as I feel business relies on those types of supplemental material to really understand it in context with the real world application. I especially like the idea that they can watch those videos for homework, think about it, and come ready to participate in discussion during class time.
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