Flipping the Classroom
Flipping the Classroom
By Kendyl Chavez
The newest talked about word in the educational world is flipping the classroom. According to Cynthia J. Brame, CFT Assistant Director at Vanderbilt University, proclaims that, ‘“flipping the classroom” means that students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving, discussion, or debates.”
For those students who have experience with online classes or even some students who have taken on-campus classes, they have been exposed to this concept. Some teachers have based their class on students watching required lecture videos at home rather than sitting in lecture during class.
Is this method affective? Do students find “flipping the classroom” affective in their learning process?
After talking to some students about their experience with online lecture videos, I found that students are more interested in the quality of the video than how easy it is to understand the lecture. Some students like watching lecture videos on their own time, at their convenience, and there are others who would rather have an in class lecture.
Personally, I have found that some teachers’ approaches to flipping the classroom is boring and pointless. I would prefer to sit in class and listen to a lecture where I can take notes and ask questions rather than be at home and try to understand everything that is being said on my own. For example, I had a class where it was required to watch an online lecture video and take notes as homework; then in class, we were to ask questions on homework problems. I found that this approach was hard and more confusing because of our short amount of time in class and limited scheduled class meetings; there wasn’t much room for asking questions and getting clarification on everything that I needed help with.
Compared to on campus classes, I found that I learned more from the professor’s lectures in class compared to lectures online.