What, Why, and How

What is a Flipped Classroom?

The flipped classroom is a student-centered approach to instruction that inverts the conventional time, space, and social dimensions of teaching and learning. Before class begins, students acquire knowledge asynchronously and individually through readings, videos, or online activities and research. During class, students apply new knowledge synchronously and interactively through group learning activities facilitated by the instructor. In other words, what is typically considered “classwork” becomes “homework” and vice versa. This approach can be applied in both resident and distance courses.

Why Flip? 

• A flipped class requires active learning both inside and outside the classroom, which promotes deeper learning by giving students more control and responsibility.  
• Synchronous activities during class sessions provide more opportunities for student interaction and peer learning.  
• Because the instructor can informally assess student learning before class and directly observe the application of knowledge and skills in class, the flipped classroom enables more timely feedback for both students and faculty. 

The Recommended Resources section at the bottom of this page includes some of the growing body of research supporting the benefits of flipping the classroom.

To Flip or Not to Flip? 

While the flipped classroom can enhance learning in practically every discipline and level of education, some courses are better suited to flipping than others.
 

• The approach generally works well in lecture or lecture/lab format courses.  
• It is likely less applicable in research seminars, which already have many features  of the flipped classroom.  
• Because students acquire most content outside of class, flipping is not recommended for NPS courses with sensitive or classified content.

Design for Flipping 

While the flipped classroom offers many advantages, it requires more preparation from instructors  and more active learning from students during the course. The approach necessitates clear, observable learning objectives and typically requires revising the syllabus. In-class activities for individual students and/or groups should be designed for students to demonstrate new learning and allow instructors to observe and improve student performance in real time.

Many instructors replace in-class lectures with videos designed for viewing before class. However, flipping the classroom doesn’t require recording every hour of every lecture.  A combination of reading guides for required texts and short videos introducing topics or explaining concepts can work equally well if not better than long-form video lectures.

How do You Know It’s Working? 

“Assess early and often” is a key principle for the flipped classroom. Before class, weekly low- or no-stakes knowledge checks, such as short auto-graded quizzes, will give both students and instructors confidence that learners will come to class ready to apply their knowledge. Encourage students to post questions and areas of ambiguity (“muddiest points”) in Sakai forums before class and respond in class or in videos.

 During class, revisiting topics when needed and using spaced, repeated, and deliberate practice rather than a “fire and forget” strategy will strengthen comprehension and help students successfully apply content. Observe in-class activities for gaps in content coverage and prompt students to use metacognition and reflection to evaluate learning impact. Timely feedback on in-class activities will build confidence in content knowledge that can be comprehensively assessed through exams or projects.

The same “early and often” principle can be applied to student evaluation of the learning experience in a flipped classroom. Overall, keep in mind that some students will find the flipped approach unfamiliar or contrary to their expectations, or just won’t like it. Don’t be discouraged by a few negative comments in reflections or SEFs.

Tips for Flipping 

• Start small, with a single lesson, section or module of a course. Select topics for which you already have some content developed and feel would benefit from a more in-depth approach.  
• Give yourself adequate time to prepare, especially if you will be creating videos.  
• Explain the flipped format to students up front. Provide guidance and context on material and activities that students will complete outside of class.  
• Set clear expectations for in-class time, face-to-face or online, so that students come prepared.  
• As with any course, be mindful of student workload, and provide opportunities for students to give open and honest feedback.

Tools for a Flipped Classroom 

• Use the Sakai Lessons, Questions, and Forums tools to structure student learning outside of class, facilitate interaction, and provide feedback.  
• Microsoft Forms and Zoom polls make it easy to create formative assessments and knowledge checks. Use Zoom or Teams for recording lecture videos, explainers, or reading guides.  
• Microsoft Stream can record your screen to demonstrate software, code development, solving equations, or using spreadsheets, but keep in mind that screen recordings in Stream are limited to 15 minutes.  
• Camtasia provides capabilities for longer screen recordings as well as for editing videos, adding callouts, and other effects.  
• Remember that GEAC can help create videos and has a lightboard available for dynamic writing, drawing, and annotating content in videos. 

Tuesday, 19 July 2022, 1200-1300

Watch a recorded online webinar where Associate
Professor of National Security Affairs Christopher Twomey, Coordinator of Educational Innovation Ana Eckhart, and Senior Instructional Designer Fred Wehling explore the theory and practice of flipping the classroom.

Download slide deck (PDF, 1.4MB)

NEC is Here to Help 

The NEC Instructional Design Team can assist with identifying material to flip, provide support for redesigning courses and adapting materials, and connect with the Media Design and Educational Programming teams to develop videos and learning interactions.