Inside The Flipped Classroom

What is The Flipped Classroom Model?

The flipped classroom model can be extremely beneficial when used in the classroom and used well. This model involves flipping the traditional classroom model where the teacher is delivering information that is necessary for students to know and having students access lecture videos, study resources, or any other materials that would help them learn the lesson content outside of the class. This allows class time to be used for class discussions, collaborative activities, and hands-on engagement using the content that they learned about outside of class. The teacher can then spend time facilitating activities, creating opportunities for enriched learning, and developing more rigorous activities and discussions rather than spending time lecture during class (Saira et. al, 2021). I love the image below; it explains how students learn new skills at home so that they can participate in more complex thinking at school. They can move beyond the surface layer of content and learn to apply the content in more rigorous ways with their teachers there to guide them as a facilitator. 

Simonson and Zvacek (2024) discuss how the flipped classroom usually involves recorded lectures. That does not always have to be the case. I believe that outside of the classroom, there just needs to be some type of interaction with the material that needs to be learned. This could be reading from a textbook, watching an informational video, reading related articles, researching a topic, etc. This allows students to gain an understanding of the material or concepts that are needed to participate in discussions or activities that take place in the classroom or even during synchronous video conferences if it is a distance education class. Students retain their learning much better when they are interacting with materials themselves and discovering information rather than listening to information being delivered during a lecture. 

How does this model enhance student learning?

In the traditional classroom where students are listening to a teacher lecture or tell them all of the information they need to know, students quickly become disengaged. They have a hard time just listening and trying to absorb all of the information. Research has shown that when students engage with the material that they are learning, they are more likely to retain it. Reading about, listening to, or researching the material that they need to know at home and then coming to class or joining classmates virtually to discuss, debate, or collaborate using the learning material is much more engaging for students and enhances student learning (Agyeman & Aphane, 2024). The flipped classroom helps to create a participatory type feel to class rather than a sit and listen style classroom from the past; participation creates engagement and engagement enhances student learning. 

Simonson and Zvacek (2024) consider the flipped classroom style a best practice for distance education classrooms. This styler works well for distance education classes because students have to use their own time for so much of the class it saves instructors from having to use their time online together to teach the material and frees up time for the instructor and students to use the material for interactions that enhance student learning. 

Citations

Agyeman, N. Y., & Aphane, V. (2024). Implementing flipped classroom to enhance student engagement: An action research. E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 1860–1878. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451119

Saira, Ajmal, F., & Hafeez, M. (2021). Critical review on flipped classroom model versus traditional lecture method. International Journal of Education and Practice, 9(1), 128–140. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.61.2021.91.128.140

Simonson, M., & Zvacek, S. (2024). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (8th ed.). Charolette, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.