So this week we decided to experiment with the flipped classroom in our biology class a bit. The first part of the week was the "old way" I spent 30 minutes in class lecturing on the immune system (specific immunity, B and T cells etc.) and the students spent 20 minutes working on an activity related to it. And we spent the last 15 minutes watching a discovery channel video on flu. The next day was a repeat except we discussed vaccines, HIV and finished the movie with discussion. for 18 years I have mostly taught this way. For many of my colleagues I was a GREAT teacher those 2 days. I am a good lecturer with good and interesting stories, the students asked a few questions that were pertinent. I had a ticket out the door and they seemed to know what we did.
The problem was.....BOREDOM!!!!
The level of energy in the classroom was 2 on a scale from 1-10 and the 2 was because I am an energetic speaker. As stated previously, there was longggg minutes with nothing except students frantically writing down notes and copying graphs into their notes. They were super relieved to put away their notes and move on to something else. The results of the next day's formative assessment quiz were about where they are no matter how they are given the material. Some did great because they looked it over, some did poorly because they didn't. There was and is no measurable grading difference between flipping and not. The biggest difference is the ENERGY in the classroom and the amount of individual learning that was going on.
The last day we decided to try mastery learning. The assignment was to watch the notes on respiratory system. The only way to move on was to get 100% on the quiz. They took the quiz, if they did not receive a score of 100% they had to review the notes {some had to watch them yet :) } and when they felt prepared, redo it. If they once again did not, they had to speak with us about it and discuss what they did not know.
If they received a score of 100%, they went on to a lab on the effects of secondhand smoking on baby mouse lungs (inquiry because we have not yet talked about alveoli and how gases are exchanged with the blood). The energy and learning in the room was awesome. Questions about what actually happens to the oxygen we inhale, misconceptions revealed about what lungs actually do for you, etc, etc. All students were on task for the 70 minutes with something about respiration. They could not "check out" mentally. Our classes are mainstreamed biology 9th grade with some of the top 9th graders combined with up to 15 special education students (LD, EI, POHI). The hard part is that we had to repeat many of the same things to students because we were talking to them individually (or in groups of 2). The good part about THAT is that we believe students will remember better if you are talking directly to them as they try to figure out a problem rather than listening to a group lecture.
Next week, we are going to survey the students regarding our experiment. Results will be posted here!
Comments welcomed!
I think your key point here is fabulous. One of the true benefits of the flipped classroom is the student energy and engagement in THEIR learning... I have experienced the same thing when I did one traditional lecture. While some students still loved passively sitting there taking notes, others mentioned to me how much they just hated it because they were bored, or maybe I was going too fast, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhile thankfully I have noticed an increase in test scores overall with the flipped classroom, I feel like even if my test scores were identical to traditional I would still flip, simply because of the energy, engagement, conversations/discussions, etc that are able to happen in a flipped classroom that I believe help the students understand the material at a deeper level.
Thanks! I guess I should state that I cannot prove using summative assessment scores that grades are better because we have also changed to standards based grading which has drastically changed assessment for us (for the better).
ReplyDeleteSame here... I can't do my same Data Analysis that I've done with my first couple of units because I have changed the way I've written and graded the assessments... All for the better, I think :)
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