LBCC: Flipping the Classroom

LBCC students in Media & Society crowdsource their ideas and take pictures on their phones to study.

Ever wish you had more time to discuss text book learning with your instructor? Or to be hands-on in the classroom putting your learned ideas into real life scenarios? LBCC is making changes to student learning in order to do just that.

The concept of "flipping the classroom" utilizes the instructor's expertise on the subject in which they are at the student's disposal in the classroom to interact, question, and apply learned material with their guidance. All "homework" is truly done at home, including lessons and quizzes, prior to class.

On March 12 a group of 15 faculty at LBCC met to discuss techniques using the concept on campus. Several instructors whom are already implementing the approach spoke about the positive changes it has made to learning in their classes.

One advantage of flipping the classroom is it can be adapted as a concept that works for a particular teacher and their subject of teaching. It can be applied to individual teaching style with an emphasis on the student getting baseline information outside of the classroom and coming to class to apply it. Traditionally, this is the reverse to what many students are used to.

"It's a nation-wide program being used in both K-12 and higher education," said Liz Pearce, Department Chair of Education/Child and Family Studies and organizer of the event. "There are a ton of options out there."

Richard Gibbs, a PE/Health instructor, was in attendance and has already started flipping his classroom.

"One of the things I did was [before] every class there was a quiz. It's putting more responsibility on the learner. Rather than having an expert talk, the [student] becomes the expert."

Among the faculty one of the topics discussed was how instructors can create non-passive classroom environments and focus on examples of implementation in their field of study that the students will encounter in the working world.

Carley Hansen-Prince, a Diagnostic Imaging instructor and speaker at the event, explained what she has done to flip her classroom.

Students in her Radiation Biology class listen to a recorded lecture from her, visit a website with related information, and click through a lesson she designed to be like Power Point with pictures and minimal text. All of these are assigned prior to class.

"What that freed me up to do is having [lecture] in class and instead give real examples of medical conditions. We can discuss all of these things and more instead of focusing on the 'what.'"

The reality is that in most classrooms there are students who don't do the assigned work. The concept of a flipped classroom makes not doing the work almost impossible. For example, instructors who use Moodle to design their lessons and quizzes can select an expiration date for students to be able to do them. Failure to do the assignment before class results in missed points.

When a peer asked Hansen-Prince how many students were not previewing her lesson prior to class she explained the learning curve of her students.

"The first week 50 percent were not previewing things. The second week 95 percent did."

Assigning work before class sparked a discussion between the faculty. Some pointed out that the ability to "slack off" on the work was minimal, others noted that in-class participation increased, and others felt that it enhanced the amount of students showing up to class.

"If school is your job then it forces [the student] to put the work in. I find my students much more prepared," said Cindy Falk, a PE/Health instructor. "I've had students say they like the class because they are more prepared and they learn more."

Pearce explained that flipping the classroom doesn't totally get rid of in-class lectures but it reduces them significantly.

"I haven't totally given it up but it's 15-20 percent now."

Greg Mulder, a Physical Science instructor, pointed out that certain subjects take more adjustment than others. Students in science classes, for example, commonly expect lectures.

"In Physics it was tough to go into the classroom and not have the students expect you to talk all the time."

Part of the challenge of flipping a classroom is left to the instructor deciding what information they want to cover.

"Lecturing covers a lot of ground fast and engaging slows it down," said Pearce, "so you really need to be thoughtful about what you cover."

From a student's point of view, the ability to have rewindable and reviewable content at their convenience is beneficial to retention of information. From an instructor's point of view, having students do the work prior to class gives them a chance to know what part of the lesson needs further focus and discussion based on student responses before they step into the classroom.