Flipping Your
Classroom
By Jean Andrews
1

Turning the educational process from
teacher-focused to student-focused
Instructor
Students
Instructor
Students
What is flipping?
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“If I could only get my students to work
half as hard as I do…”
 “I’m exhausted at the end of the day.”
 “I don’t know if my students are learning
until I grade their homework or test.”
 “Students learn math by doing math, not
by listening to someone talk about doing
math.”

Reasons to flip
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Flip classroom time
Flip mastery of
content
Flip the content
Flip assessment
Flip the responsibility
for learning
Instructor
Students
Students
Instructor
Flipping what?
4

Passive learning happens outside class
◦
◦
◦
◦

Video your own lectures and post online
Use videos made by others (share resources)
Explanations in text or audio
Assign lectures as “homework”
Active learning happens in class
◦ Students work on their “homework” in class
◦ Instructors or lab assistants help individuals or
small group
1. Flipping classroom time
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No need to repeat lectures
 Active learning is given prime time
 Students get more individual help
 Better chance to get to know your
students

Why flip class time?
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
Class moves in unison
◦ Assign tasks and don’t encourage work ahead
OR

Allow students to control their learning
pace
◦
◦
◦
◦
Work from a list of detailed objectives
Document expectations and activities
Digital test banks
Mandatory attendance
2. Flipping mastery of content
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
Changing the way students learn
◦ From passive learning to active learning
◦ Learn by poking around, trying something,
making mistakes, try again, use the Help
feature, and “google it.”
◦ Wing students from step-by-steps.
3. Flipping how content is learned
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
“Research-Based Strategies to Ignite
Student Learning” by Judy Willis, M.D.,
2008
Excellent resource
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
So that more learning goes from shortterm to long-term memory
Short
term
• Memorize facts
• Follow step-by-steps
• Trial and error
• Discover and formulate answers
Executive
functions • Patterns are discovered and not “given”
• Deeper learning
• Transferable to other situations
Long term
Why flip content?
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

You provide the assessment tool
Students convince you they know the
content
◦
◦
◦
◦

Repeat knowledge
Demonstrate skills
Teach others
Make a contribution
Practically speaking
◦ “I want my students making the videos.”
◦ “Work ahead so you can teach others who are
behind.”
◦ Some objective assessment is necessary.
4. Flipping assessment
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




Provide a learning path for students to
follow
Provide tools students need
Be available to help
Reward those who accept responsibility
Expect students to contribute to others
5. Flipping responsibility for
learning
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Path 1:
Start
Objectives
check off
with
access to
all content
Pretest
At least
one
question
for each
listed
objective
Done
Passing
score
Path 2:
Medium
score
Path 3:
Low score
Activities
1
Activities
2
Post
test
Done
Activities
2
Post
test
Done
Example of learning paths
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
Emporium course

Student-centered learning course

Buffet course

Redesign course

Fully online course

Flipped course
◦ Development math program at Virginia Tech
◦ PC Repair course at College of DuPage
◦ Statistics class at Ohio State
◦ Spanish Transition course at University of Tennessee
◦ Visual and Performing Arts course at Florida Gulf
Coast University
◦ Three computer science courses at Stanford
University
Other names for flipping
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
Flexibility
◦ New ways of doing things
◦ No silver bullet or one right way to flip
Computer labs with generous hours
 Personalized on-demand assistance
 Mandatory student participation
 Plenty of digital resources (The real
advantage of IT in education!)

Necessary for flipping
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




Videos of lectures and explanations
Interactive computer software (MyITLab)
Diagnostic assessments
Online practice quizzes (large database)
Computerized grading with instant
feedback
◦ Offload grading to technology

On-demand content when student is stuck
Digital resources for flipping
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






Students spend more time on task than
listening to a lecture
Students spend more time on content they
know the least
Students learn by doing
Students can prove mastery quickly and
move on
Students get more individual help and
develop relationships with faculty
Grades and mastery improve (from 40% to
70% pass rate for one study)
Lower cost per student (30% savings for one
school)
Some results of flipping
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
How do you spend your time?
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Less prep time for lecture
More time interacting with students
More time supervising lab assistants
Less time grading homework/quizzes/exams
Less “stand and deliver” and more “one on
one”
More results of flipping
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
What can go wrong?
◦
◦
◦
◦
Administrative by-in
Lack of digital resources
Lack of flexibility to adjust to emerging needs
Lack of statistics proving results
(grades/cost/time)
◦ Students don’t have computers or Internet
access
◦ Lack of setting expectations from day one
(hard to flip in the middle of a course)
◦ Not sticking it out past the initial shock to
students (not the easy way out for students
and often a culture shock)
From a flip to a flop???
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




National Center for Academic
Transformation at www.thencat.org
Flipped Learning Network at
flippedclassroom.org
“Flip Your Classroom” by Jonathan
Bergmann and Aaron Sams
Khan Academy at www.khanacademy.org
“Jump Right In” by Jean Andrews
Resources for flippers
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Jean Andrews
 jeanandrews@mindspring.com

Contact Info
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