One of the most talked about ideas in education recently has been that of the "flipped classroom". In a traditional classroom, we receive a lecture on a topic, then get practice in applying the topic for homework. A flipped classroom "flips" this structure. In other words, we watch a video of a lecture at home and then practice and apply the concept in the classroom. The advantage of a video lecture is that one can pause or rewatch sections of a video if one fails to understand, all without time pressure or peer pressure (e.g. not being confident enough to ask a question). The advantage of 'homework' in the classroom is that the teacher can more actively support the students during formative stages of applying a concept and intervene more immediately when needed.
Despite a growing interest in flipped classroom models of learning, there has been very little research that has empirically evaluated its efficacy. And despite its prominence in the popular consciousness, there are a number of educational researchers not so convinced of its claims to "revolutionise education". So given this, an international team, including CRLI core member Abelardo Pardo, has taken a critical look at this issue in a new paper in the journal The Internet and Higher Education. Working with methodologies from the field of learning analytics, they identify 4 different learning strategies and 5 different student profiles that tend to occur within flipped classroom teaching. Having a finer grain of analysis, as offered here, enables educational researchers and designers to better understand and improve how we might use flipped classroom teaching.
Having a finer grain of analysis, as offered here, enables educational researchers and designers to better understand and improve how we might use flipped classroom teaching.
See the original paper for details.
And as a bonus piece of good news, Abelardo has just been appointed a "Senior Fellow" of The Higher Education Academy: a professional institution promoting excellence in higher education. The Senior Fellow distinction is given to individuals that demonstrate a thorough understanding of effective approaches to teaching and learning support as a key contribution to high quality student learning.