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Integrating 21 st Century Skills in Flipped EFL Classrooms. Kerry Pusey, Evelyn Doman, and Marie Webb University of Macau English Language Centre. Overview of Presentation. What is a “flipped classroom?” Motivation for study Description of the study Video examples Discussion
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Integrating 21st Century Skills in Flipped EFL Classrooms Kerry Pusey, Evelyn Doman, and Marie Webb University of Macau English Language Centre
Overview of Presentation • What is a “flipped classroom?” • Motivation for study • Description of the study • Video examples • Discussion • Conclusions, implications, and recommendations
What is a “Flipped Classroom?” • An inverse classroom • All homework is done in class; all classwork is done at home
Motivation for the Study • Role of technology at our institution • Popular discourse on flipping • Literature in flipped research is lacking and even less in the ESL/EFL context • Few studies are actual experimental or quasi-experimental studies (Bishop & Verleger, 2013)
Benefits of Flipping • A flipped class allows • more time for student engagement with materials • teacher to answer more questions • online materials and videos to be accessed 24/7 • more individualized instruction
The Present Study • A university in Macao, China • High-intermediate integrated skills course • Required General Education English course • Experimental group (flipped): 4 classes • Control group (non-flipped): 2 classes • 4 different teachers
Research Questions For this study, the following research questions were addressed: RQ1: Do students prefer flipped over traditional (i.e., non-flipped) classes? RQ2: Which teaching methods do students believe are more effective for learning?
Research Questions (con’t) RQ3: What are students attitudes towards using online materials? RQ4: How does flipping the EFL classroom change the dynamics of teacher-student and student-student interaction?
Methods: Participants • All first or second year students • Experimental group: N=69 • Control group: N=47 • 94% from Macao or Mainland China
Data Collection The data for this study consisted of: • Survey 1 at midterm • Survey 2 at end of course • Surveys developed by teachers/researchers • Administered online (through Survey Monkey) • Classroom observations • Teachers’ reflections
Other Considerations for Study • Initially planned to flip entire classes, but later decided to only flip certain modules (for practical reasons) • Modules selected based on predicted amount of teacher-fronted instruction required
Results • Over time, flipped students were satisfied with the flipped approach (RQ1).
Results (con’t) • Students believed teacher-centered instruction was most effective for learning. (RQ2).
Results (con’t) • Students in the flipped classes wanted more online instruction than non-flipped (RQ3).
Results (con’t) • More student responsibility, less teacher instruction in-class. More student-student interaction (RQ4).
Discussion • Over time students in the flipped classes became more comfortable with online instruction.
Discussion (con’t) • Most students enjoyed using Moodle to submit online assignments and to take quizzes/tests
Video Examples Here is 1 video sample of what our flipped classrooms looked like.
Drawbacks of Flipping • More preparation time for the teacher • Students must be trained to use new technology • Students may initially feel that they have more work outside of class • Technical problems are common • Availability of resources
Teacher Reflections • “Instructional support materials that will be used by students remotely (or online) should be well thought out, designed and prepared well in advance of the start of a semester.” • Teacher from a flipped classroom • “I could tell that the students weren’t interested in the flipped model initially. However, after the 7th week I began to see a change in my students’ attitudes.” • Teacher from a flipped classroom • “During the end of the semester especially, I really wished a lot of the assignments (descriptions, rubrics and grading criteria, examples of model work, etc.) were explained online (i.e., “flipped”) in order to save class time.” • Teacher from a non-flipped classroom
Recommendations • Use technology purposefully • Don’t feel obligated to flip entire class • Take it one step at a time when flipping • Consider how students respond, and adjust lessons accordingly • Collaborate and recycle/reuse content whenever possible
References 1. Baranovic, K. 2013. Flipping the First-Year Composition Classroom: Slouching Toward the Pedagogically Hip. 2. Berrett, D. 2012. How “Flipping” the Classroom Can Improve the Traditional Lecture. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review 78(1), 36-41. 3. Bishop & Verleger, 2013.The Flipped Classroom: A Survey of the Research. 120th American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, June 23-26. 3. Butt, A. 2014. Student Views on the Use of a Flipped Classroom Approach : evidence from Australia. Business Education & Accreditation, 6 (1), 33-43. 5. Hughes, H. 2012. Introduction to Flipping the College Classroom. In T. Amiel & B. Wilson (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2012 (pp. 2434-2438).