Internally Flipped Classrooms

Internally Flipped Classrooms C. Kohn Agricultural Sciences Waterford, WI

Flipped Classrooms • The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. • Instead of time being constant and outcomes being variable, time is variable and maximum performance is the constant (ideally). • Short video lectures are viewed by students at home before the class session, while in-class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions. (Source: Google Definitions).

Advantages • Advantages of FC’s • Allows students to determine their own initial pace. • Allows the teacher to get more in-depth with their students because they’ve done some initial legwork outside of class. • Students are able to utilize their teachers' one-on-one attention more successfully in the classroom. • Reduced boredom – students can handle the initial learning on their own. • Allows for more individual adaptation to student learning styles.

Problems • Problems with this method: • It only works if students do what they are supposed to do. • If a student fails to complete their work the night before, they become further behind their peers than compared to the traditional method of teaching. • This system effectively widens the gap between the top performers (who are much more likely to do work outside of class) and poor performers (who are much LESS likely to do work outside of class). • While flipped classrooms work very well for high achieving classes or classes with less-rigorous curricula, challenging classes with a diverse student make-up tend to be less suited this format. • Increased out-of-class work (for students who already probably get too much homework already). • Students from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to see decreased performances, widening the achievement gap (and possibly putting your school’s performance report in jeopardy). • The arguably-harmful effects of too much “screen time”.

Ideal FC • The ideal flipped classroom would be one where: • A) students could still work independently but not have increased homework and • B) where low- and high-performing students have an equal likelihood of success regardless of ability or socioeconomic status. • Flipped classrooms do not necessarily have to involve out-of-class work. • While flipped classrooms are usually thought of as a method in which students work outside of class so that they can go deeper into the material, out-of-class work is not a vital component of a flipped classroom. • Arguably, you could say that the FC model could be hindered by excess out-of-class work.

Internally Flipped Classrooms • Internally Flipped Classrooms utilize the strategies of traditional flipped classrooms but entirely under the supervision of the instructor. • An internally-flipped classroom combines the independence and flexibility of having students work outside of direct teacher instruction with the support, guidance, and lack of homework by using in-class time for what would normally be out-of-class activity in a flipped classroom. • Students are still responsible for rote independent learning that is the main component of a flipped classroom. • However, this element occurs under the guidance and supervision of an instructor in the classroom.

Internally Flipped Classrooms • “So, isn’t this just a normal method of teaching?” • No… kind of, but no, not really. • For this to make sense, it helps to understand how this model developed over time. • Waterford’s Internally Flipped Classroom Method was not due to the work of researchers or curriculum designers. • In fact, most of the IFC’s methodology was developed in cooperation of students in the classroom while the material was being conducted. • This model is popular with students because (in part) it was developed by students.

History of the IFC • Prior to 2013, ag classes at Waterford operated in a very-traditional manner. • When students took notes, they listened to an instructor and observed one single PowerPoint presented using a projector. • Initially, students took their own, unstructured notes. • However, it became very apparent that high school students are awful at taking notes. • To solve this problem, I developed structured notesheets that guide students through the material with rote fill-in-the-blank and definitions. • These kind of questions eventually transition into more in-depth comprehensive questions that test their deeper understanding.

History of the IFC • While the guided notesheets and instructor-led lectures worked very well, a few problems began to emerge as this system became perfected. • The main problem was that students were either bored because we were going to slow for them or stressed because they struggled to keep up. • Special ed case-workers eventually requested that their students receive print-outs of the PowerPoints when notes were taken so that they could work at their own pace. • This initially worked well because these students (who were never very good at listening anyway) could work on their own at their own pace in their own personal environment. • Lower-performing students soon had noticeable improvements to their grades because they were able to work at whatever pace in any location. • As long as their notes were completed by the time of the quiz (2-3 days later), their work was accepted for full credit.

History of the IFC • Over time, non-special ed students began to notice that they weren’t getting all the options that other students were given. • Students in general began to request that extra copies be made available for anyone who wanted to do what students with special needs were doing. • At first I made an extra half dozen copies; after students began to fight over these copies, I began to make an extra dozen copies. • Eventually I was making almost as many copies as there were students in each class. • By the fourth quarter of that year, I began to notice that when I lectured, no one was listening.

History of the IFC • In April of 2013, I sought the input of my students to see what direction to pursue. • Because it was becoming obvious that almost all the students preferred the independent note-taking to my lecturing, I offered the option of going completely to this method. • After a few trial runs, it became obvious that this method was much more preferable to students than the traditional lecture method. • By student request and through student feedback, the Internally Flipped Classroom was born.

IFC – Day by Day • Mondays: students are introduced to the material using a reading, video, or a set of general questions. • Students are assessed of their prior knowledge using question and answer, a short quiz, or a group task. • The instructor provides a general overview of the material and key points or areas of likely difficulty.

IFC – Day by Day • Tuesdays: students are given notes and guided notesheets and are given the full hour. • The instructor moves throughout the room to check for students who are struggling and so that they are available for questions. • Students are reluctant to ask questions unless the instructor is within their proximity. • This is likely because the further away the instructor, the more attention they have to draw to themselves when they need help. • The instructor will periodically pause the class to address areas of reoccurring difficulty or to address a specific point that might be otherwise missed. • Copies of the notes and laptops w/ internet access (because the notes are posted) are available in the classroom.

IFC – Day by Day • Wednesdays: students complete a comprehensive formative assessment activity, aka a lab or group activity. • The point of these activities is to enable students to demonstrate their ability to use the knowledge they have gained in that unit in a specific applicable problem. • In science-based courses, this usually entails a lab. In ideal circumstances, these labs require students to develop a solution to a problem and test that solution. The effectiveness is determined through data analysis. Rarely, if ever, are ‘cookie-cutter’ labs used. • The emphasis is having students demonstrate their comprehension through use of ideas in a novel fashion. • This can range from explaining how changing the pH of a water solution will affect the rates of photosynthesis in leaf discs, predicting how different kinds of carbohydrates will affect cellular respiration, forming hypotheses based on evidence on why different populations of elk are responding differently to their environment, etc. • In business or leadership classes (or during units with less of a scientific focus), group worksheets are used to facilitate student learning. • These worksheets usually revolve around real-world scenarios as much as possible. • For example, students in Agribusiness may develop a marketing plan for backyard chickens or students in Agriscience may interpret graphs during a statistics unit. • The point of any activity on a Wednesday is to allow students to test and demonstrate their own level of comprehension prior to a summative assessment on Thursday.

IFC – Day by Day • Thursdays: students begin with an opportunity to ask any pressing questions first. • If there are no immediate questions, students are shown a list of the objectives for that particular unit to guide their final preparation for the quiz. • Students are given 5-10 minutes to review the concepts as a group and identify their top concerns prior to taking the quiz. • After they have had a chance to fully review the objectives, students can ask the instructor to address any questions they may still have. • While the instructor is directly lecturing at this point, it is in response to specific student questions. • Students then turn in all notes, labs, and/or worksheets and take a 20-35 question multiple choice quiz. • After all students have finished, they exchange their quizzes and grade their partner’s work. As the instructor provides the answers, tough questions are explained to provide immediate feedback to the students.

IFC – Day by Day • Fridays: students receive various kinds of career-based training (resumes, cover letters, job interviews, college & major selection, etc.). • If a week runs long or is interrupted (e.g. snow days, pep assemblies, in-services, etc.), one week’s Friday can be delayed so that the class stays on schedule.

Feedback and Benefits • After a full year of trying this method in all classes, students have had generally positive feedback. • Most like the ability to work at their own pace and also like that if they are done early, they have the chance to work on other assignments. • Students have also commented on the ease in which they can prepare for quizzes; because they have been exposed to the same material and objectives in three different ways, they have a better and deeper comprehension of the material. • When other methods have been tried in lieu of the notesheets, students generally request to return to the IFC method with notesheets. • This is even if the replacement methods allowed students to work independently at their own pace. • The instructor can observe students working and identify students who are struggling based on the pace at which they work, their body language, and the quality of their work. • This allows the instructor to pull these students from the class to work with them one on one.

Concerns and Criticisms of IFC • This method can seem monotonous. While a predictable structure is good, by March or April the weeks start to blend into each other. • Students who struggle with reading and/or writing will have much greater difficulty with this method as this is the primary way in which they learn the material. Without lectures, they have no other way to learn the material. • Non-formal assessment can be a challenge; project-based learning is especially difficult to include with this method (although methods are being developed at this time and may be more prevalent in future courses). • Multi-day labs can be an issue; sometimes you need to break from the routine to allow for more in-depth labs to occur. • Lazy students hate it (maybe a benefit?) because it requires them to do more work in order to learn than if they just had to passively hear the instructor. • Having a notesheet per student every week can lead to increased paper usage and costs.

Tips and Tricks • Use the 100-80-0 rule. 100% (15/15) is assigned to work that is above expectations (notes in margins, neat handwriting, use of all space available). 80% (12/15) is assigned to work that meets expectations (maybe a missed blank, ‘good-enough’ work, etc.). Anything that you feel is below expectations gets a zero until they fix the problem. • It is especially important to strongly enforce and repeatedly explain this procedure so that students understand that ‘good enough’ will not be accepted for a grade. • It may take 4-5 tries or more and constant reminders before a student understands that it is less work just to do it right the first time. • Preview the material on Mondays – this is a good time for a quick lecture that provides an overview of what they are about to see. • A little lecture is good – it helps students to anticipate what is coming and prepares a neural pathway for easier retention of the material.

Tips and Tricks • Interrupt students on Tuesdays – don’t let them work longer than their age before doing a ‘quick check’ to see if it is sinking in. Pose a question that requires them to use their knowledge in a comprehensive manner and see what you get for responses. • E.g. if doing photosynthesis, ask if sunny, windy conditions would increase or decrease rates of photosynthesis compared to a calm sunny day. • If studying female reproduction, ask them how a tumor on the ovary would cause different symptoms than a tumor on the pituitary, particularly from a hormonal perspective.

Tips and Tricks • Listen to your students to an extent. Consider their critiques but also know that it takes at least a year for students to become comfortable with the method and appreciate its value. • If they complain about the amount of writing they have to do, ask for suggestions for better ways to learn the same amount of content in the same amount of time (usually they will concede that there isn’t a better way). • Also offer to lecture in lieu of independent work – difficult concepts may be too much for them to do individually; be sure to require them to complete the notesheets either way or they will prefer the option with less writing.

Tips and Tricks • Resist the temptation to do your own work while they are doing theirs. Circle among your students regularly as they work rather than do your own work for extended periods behind a desk. • Students are hesitant to ask for the help they need unless you are proximally nearby.

Internally Flipped Classrooms