Flipping Instruction

Best Practices for Librarians and Other Educators

Seth Allen, MLIS

AGS Outreach Librarian

Bryan College

Flipping Instruction

What is the Flipped Classroom?

Flipped classroom is when lecture content is made available outside of the classroom, via podcasts or videos, and students are expected to review material before class. In-class time is then freed up for hands-on and group activities. This method was outlined by Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams in their 2012 book, Flip Your Classroom.

Hamdan, et al (2014) identify four principles of flipped instruction: • Rearranging the classroom for more group activities and

allowing students discretion to decide what and when they will learn.

• Intentionally shift the role of instructor from an expert who has complete control of the classroom environment to a facilitator/guide who helps students to solve problems independently.

• Use ‘intentional content’, or active learning strategies, to shift the focus to a learner-centered pedagogy.

• Adapt the changes professional by conceding the structure of lecture-based classroom, personalizing instruction and interaction as much as possible, and work with other educators to hone the craft of flipped instruction.

5:27 – 7:32

Does Flipping Improve Student Learning?

The short answer is yes. Educational psychologists identified the elements of flipping as more effective than traditional lecturing.

• LS Vygotksy – Zone of Proximal Learning• Fred Keller – The Keller Plan• Benjamin Bloom – Master Learning Model

Drawbacks of the Flipped Classroom

L. Neilsen (2012) identified several flaws in the flipped method which are shared by other skeptical educators: • Over emphasis on bad pedagogy • Digital Divide – many students still don’t have Internet

access at home• A video cannot ‘scaffold’ abstract concepts for students• Student motivation is key to flipping the classroom • Flipping a classroom has been used to overload students

with information – the curriculum demands too much of them.

FLIPPED CLASSROOM SUCCESS STORIESAnecdotes from the Field about Flipping Instruction

J. Valenza (2012) reported that In a survey of 453 instructors who flipped: • 88% reported higher job satisfaction• 67% had higher student test scores,• 80% reported higher student attitude

Scott Freeman at the University of Washington flipped his introductory biology courses (as cited in Arfstrom & Aaronson, 2013)• Failure rate went from 17% to 4%• % of students with A’s rose from 14% to 24%

Hamdan et al (2013) did a literature review of flipped learning, found that:• Clintondale,MI High School had 74% drop in behavioral issues after

adopting the flipped model in nearly every classroom

2 Boston College law librarians flipped their Advanced Legal Research class and found that• Class participation was better and deeper – students asked more in-

depth questions • Students learn to collaborate with peer to find information for very

specific hypothetical situations

MY RESEARCH ON THE FLIPPED CLASSROOMFlipping Library Instruction

Purpose & Methods

• I created a survey in Google Docs and sent it out on several library listservs and mailing lists

• 21 question survey, mostly open-ended, which intended to ascertain:1. familiarity with the flipped classroom model

2. self-reflection on ‘flipped librarians’ typical teaching strategies, and

3. reflection on the merits of flipped library instruction.

• In early May 2014, I sent out this survey, 51 people responded to it

Highlights of Results

• Flipping library instruction is difficult unless instructors require students to watch material outside of class (and most ‘flipped’ librarians teach credit-bearing courses

• Librarians struggle with not duplicating pre-class works and in-class activities.

• Most successful activity was database searching with minimal librarian assistance

• Students and faculty still aren’t sold on the flipped classroom, making it difficult

• Flipped instructional materials are reusable, rescalable, adaptable by other profs

HOW TO FLIP OUTNotes on Flipping Instruction From the Field

Step 1: Pick learning objectives to cover before class

Step 2: Find Content to Assign Before Class

HINT: Re-use what’s freely available than try to reinvent the wheel!• TedEd: http://ed.ted.com/• Merlot: http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm• OER COMMONS: http://www.oercommons.org/• Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/• MIT OpenCourseware: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm• Joyce Valenza’s Open Source Webliography:

http://www.only2clicks.com/pages/joycevalenza/350887• Joyce Valenza’s Online Documentary Directory:

http://www.only2clicks.com/pages/joycevalenza/345904• Cooperative Library Instruction Project: http://www.clipinfolit.org/• PBS Frontline: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365245528/• Teaching Into Lit & Critical

Thinking:https://sites.google.com/site/teachinfolit/

Step 2.1: Record Your Own Content If Needed

• For video - There are several free ‘screencasting’ softwares that one can use to record a lecture• Jing• Screencast-o-matic • Screenr

• For audio – Use the Sound Recorder on your computer or use a smartphone to record your voice

• PLEASE NOTE – Write and keep a script for ADA compliance

• Consider viewing policies and students needs– can you use YouTube at your school? Or Intranet/LMS only? Do students have access to computer at home?

Step 2.1 Continued

• Use inquiry-based learning to keep students attention in the lecture (ie start with a problem and the work out the problem through the lecture

• Consider if/when the recorded content will be obsolete

• Take a typical lectures and break it into sections (ie separate videos/audio) with some type of assessment after each ‘chunk’ of a lessson (Keller Plan, Bloom’s mastery model)

• Develop a quick formative assessment to hold students accountable for watching lecture – flipping doesn’t work if students aren’t prepared

Step 3: Revamp Face-to-Face Time

• Create group activities that maximize peer tutoring (Mazur) and make students teach one another concepts (Vygotskys – Zone of Proximal Learning)

• Remember to use class time to teach higher levels in Bloom’s Taxonomy (evaluation, synthesis, analysis), apply lower level in class!

• Use regular formative assessments• Poll Everywhere• U. of Michigan Active Learning Strategies• Higher Ed Academy Active Learning Strategies• Ted Ed Lessons

Step 3: Reflect & Improve

• Consider creating your own repository of learning materials on a blog/Google Sites to share with other educators

• Have your materials routinely ‘peer-reviewed’ for relevancy to meet learning objectives

• Consider partnering with teachers in other disciplines or your librarian to create an interdisciplinary lesson or research/evaluation lesson

“…the Internet changed everything. That teacher is no longer the master in the room. Google is the master. That changes the whole dynamic….You’ve lost that mystique. It makes it harder for teachers sell the idea of ‘I’m the expert, I’m the master.’ On the other hand, the flipped classroom lets teachers lets the teachers publisher their own content, and offers them ‘away to become the masters again” adds McCammon.”

– Lodge McCammon, Project Director For The Institute For Educational Innovation At North Carolina State University and a Former AP Economics Teacher

Summing It All Up

Flipping Library Instruction Infographic:

www.smore.com/t3s5t

Works Cited

Arfrstrom, K., & Aronson, N. (2013). Flipped learning in higher education [White paper]. Retrieved April 18th, 2014, from Flipped Learning Network: http://www.flippedlearning.org/cms/lib07/VA01923112/Centricity/Domain/41/HigherEdWhitePaper%20FINAL.pdf

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day. Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education.

Davis, Laurel E., Neary, Mary Ann, and Susan E. Vaughn. (2013). Teaching Advanced Legal Research in a Flipped Classroom, 22 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Res. & Writing 13.

Hamdan, N., McKnight, P., McKnight, K., & Arfstrom, K. A Review of Flipped Learning. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.flippedlearning.org/cms/lib07/VA01923112/Centricity/Domain/41/LitReview_FlippedLearning.pdf

Nielsen, L. (2012). Five Reasons I'm Not Flipping over the Flipped Classroom. Technology & Learning, 32(10), 46.

Valenza, J. (2012). The Flipping Librarian. Teacher Librarian, 40(2), 22-25.

Vygotsky, L. S., & Cole, M. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.