Flipping the Classroom: Don’t Sweat the Technique

In Ecclesiastes 1:9, The Teacher writes, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, there is nothing new under the sun” (NRSV). Too often educators appeal to this sentiment as a proof text for resisting pedagogical fads. Many have cast a hermeneutic of suspicion upon the flipped classroom model.

For those unfamiliar, the flipped classroom reverses the conventional teach-in-class/learn-at-home approach. Instead teachers introduce content in homework lessons, and students practice the material in the classroom. In theory, this will encourage more hands-on learning when students and teachers meet together. With the help of dynamic media, students can interact with content beyond the level afforded by the traditional lecture experience.

Truth be told this is not a novel idea. Math and science educators, for instance, have been implementing this for the past 20 years. Humanities professors frequently harbor anxiety over what it means for our praxis. There persists a fear that flipping the classroom will pan out just like the last failed attempt at a seemingly new teaching method—too much of a hassle for us, too distracting for students, too diluted for our content area.

After flipping my Comparative Religions class, I’m here to tell you, “Don’t sweat the technique!” The flip worked for me. Grades went up. Classes reported greater satisfaction. Students demonstrated a higher level of content mastery. Was it work? Yes, but no more than what I did before. I just front load course maintenance to the pre-term period, so I can spend the teaching period focused on students. Here’s how I arrived at making the flip.

Start With the Problem

I currently teach undergrads at an urban public university. My course enrollment has ranged from 7 to 40+. Roughly half of my students have an ESOL background, and the same number transfer from the local community system. With no Religious Studies department, my course lacks a programmatic constituency. Everyone from agriculture majors to prospective zoologists enroll to meet some elective humanities requirement.

Here’s the thing. Students did well on my major writing assignments (thanks to the ACE model). They enjoyed the hands-on learning activities. But few students responded to the reading and lecture aspect of the course.

This is when I set out on a journey of discernment. I sat in on a few of my colleagues’ classes to get some perspective on the disconnect. These were some of the school’s most esteemed lecturers in the eyes of students and faculty alike. And yet I caught myself having the same glazed-over look I abhor from my students. How long can we expect people to actively listen? How much should anyone still have to  read?

I settled on the flip model after the following epiphany: students weren’t bored because I gave them too much work. It was because I was giving them too little. This is what led me to the flip.

Make the Students Do the Work

Gone are the days when I so graciously drown my students with scholarly expertise. Now they have to figure things out the way we all did: you know, studying it for themselves.

Students watch a short video (10 minutes or less) that complements a modest assigned reading (20 pages a week or so). They use a study guide to think through key terms, foundational concepts, and their own questions. So before each class, students encounter a different tradition or religious studies theory before they meet with me. Below are some examples.

Go here for study guide associated with video above:  SG Indian Religions

I made the first video above splicing PowerPoint slides and Creative Commons media. For theory videos, I used a virtual smart-board iPad app called Doceri. Doceri also allows me to annotate slideshows in the course of a presentation. Knowing that the brain trust of Seminarium readers could come up with some pretty high quality stuff, I am almost embarrassed to share these, but I’ve found that my students don’t sweat the production value. They simply demand access. As long as you keep the resources digestable (i.e. length, legibility, and directions), they’ll consume it.

There’s Still No School Like the Old School

I divide in-class time between review and experimentation. Students work in small groups to review their study guides, answering each other’s questions. We take up any remaining issues as a class. Personally, I answer questions as a last resort. Students have each other, library privileges, and web-enabled devices to get answers. I put my two cents in only after deeming that the asker has sufficiently invested in trying to find the answer on his or her own.

Then students expand upon their knowledge with some project, seminar discussion, or other activity. I keep things pretty analog here—Montessori-like learning centers, show and tell, religious studies-fair exhibits. As other Seminarium bloggers can attest, elementary techniques can do wonders for teaching higher-ed content.

Education and Gamification

We all know that just because a student shows up, doesn’t mean that they are present for class. Poll Everywhere became my go-to application to deal with this. It basically turns cell phones, laptops, and tablets into instant-feedback devices. You can display a question for students to answer and get results in seconds. With its integration into various LMS and presentation programs, a lot of professors use Poll Everywhere to take attendance, give quizzes, and poll student comprehension. But it has other applications. For example, when I show movies, students message their class-related observations. Their responses scroll on the bottom of the screen. Think Mystery Science Theater 3000 meets live-tweeting.

Students have really taken to Poll Everywhere. I have even had students incorporate it into group presentations. It’s not only helped me up my game, but it has upped theirs as well.

Should You Try Flipping the Classroom?

I share my experience not in the vain spirit of conversion but in anticipation of conversation. Can the flip classroom work for you, or is it the “vanity of vanities?” Tell us below in the comments section.

Photo Credit: “Laurie flipping out” by Jared Tarbell  – CC by 2.0

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