This post is a slightly unstructured note on how various items of what I have learned on the PGcHE might be applied to the assessment of the effectiveness of a Flipped Classroom. For each of the sections below i have sought to note “What did I learn that could be relevant for making a judgement about whether a flipped classroom is effective or not?”
Introduction to Learning Design
Biggs, Tang and Kennedy sum up the requirements for designing learning in the 21st century:
Stop thinking about lectures and tutorials as being the default methods of teaching
What the student does is more important than what the teacher does
Important learning also takes place outside the classroom
(Biggs, Tang and Kennedy, 2022, pp.71–72)
These headline declarations are, I believe, good guides in reflecting on how to assess the design and effectiveness of any teaching including Flipped Classrooms. The middle statement is a key reminder that we need to be working to ‘Level 3’ principles of student-centric teaching. This requires us to think about how accessible the learning is, but also how much time it takes for the student. The video element of a flipped classroom, for example, may only take 10 minutes to watch but we need to be mindful as to how many tasks we create within it. This could be explicit requests for the students to do something, but also the inclusion of ambiguous references to other avenues of research. A number of sources suggest that a 10-15 minute video can lead to 90 minutes of research and study for students that adopt a deep learning approach.
Assessment and Feedback
The face-2-face element of the Flipped Classroom is an ideal opportunity for ‘Assessment for Learning’. Whilst the video or podcast element is a great opportunity for students to consolidate new knowledge at their own pace, the f2f session should be designed to test the understanding of that knowledge and to build from there.
Assessment for learning is formative and diagnostic. It provides information about student achievement which allows teaching and learning activities to be changed in response to the needs of the learner and recognises the huge benefit that feedback can have on learning (Black and William 1998)
(Bloxham and Boyd, 2007, p.15)
The speed of change or adaptation can and should happen quickly. I am coming to realise it is not about a slow redrawing of the curriculum in response to a broad interpretation of formative student assessment but more short-term, adaptation in the moment to formative assessment at the start of a session in order to understand the position of students and scaffold from there towards the intended learning outcomes of the session.
Theories of Learning
Turning to Biggs, Tang, and Kennedy once more it is their Level 3 approach to learning “Focus on what the student does” that needs to be the foreground of designing a flipped classroom and then assessing the effectiveness of it. (Biggs, Tang and Kennedy, 2022, pp.31)
Fellow student Dilesha brought this to life by citing Student Engagement, Learning Outcomes, and Student Feedback as the three most important things to consider in evaluating a flipped classroom. (Rathnayake, 2023)
Inclusive Teaching and Learning
The use of video, or some other pre-recorded explanation of new learning is a much more inclusive method of delivering information on new concepts. A single, one-hit, lecture disadvantages the majority of students. Some of whom may be more visual learners, and most of whom would prefer to stop and start the lecture or watch it through multiple times so that they can make notes in a manner that suits them.
Embedding Employability, Enterprise and Professional Practice
Employability and professional practice should come mainly from the learning that is acquired rather than the method of delivery. That said the various elements of a student-centric flipped classroom: learning by video; self-direct research and reflection; and engagement with peers is much more like the professioanl world, and how learning may take place there. Lectures are not generally part of working life.
By being more akin to the type of learning that is possible after university, blended learning sets students up to be like-long learners and to understand how continous learning can be achieved.
Reference list
Biggs, J., Tang, C. and Kennedy, G. (2022). Teaching for Quality Learning at University 5e. McGraw-Hill Education (UK), pp.71–72.
Bloxham, S. and Boyd, P. (2007). Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education : a Practical Guide. Maidenhead: Open University Press, p.15.
Rathnayake, D. (2023). Week 6: Forum – What do you need to consider when evaluating flipped classroom approaches. [online] flex.falmouth.ac.uk. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/1154/discussion_topics/28612?module_item_id=65395.