After being in school for almost 20 years of my life, and having almost 4 of them be Covid/ post-Covid years, I never thought I'd see a new teaching method be introduced. I've had the typical in-class teaching style where a teacher actually teaches the lesson physically in class, I've had classes that were completely remote where there is not much interaction with the teacher and I simply watch videos and work on assignments myself and teach myself the subject matter essentially, and I've even had classes that were done on zoom.
A new teaching style that I have been introduced to in law school within the past year is the flipped classroom model. I'm not sure if this is a new teaching style that came as a product of Covid, but it surely is new to me. The flipped classroom model has students watch recorded lectures of their professors teaching/ going over the material before the student goes to class, and then when they do go to class, the professor will typically not re-teach the material, but will then apply the material to practice problems and may just discuss some parts of the material that they know are challenging (or at least this was my experience with the flipped classroom model). After experiencing two different classes that have utilized the flipped classroom model, I have some mixed feelings on it based on how the professors treated this flipped classroom model.
One of the biggest cons that I experienced with the flipped classroom model is that it truly felt like I was taking 2 classes when I really only signed up for 1 and it was never indicated prior to signing up for these classes that they were going to use this teaching model. These professors would make these videos almost an hour or longer to watch because they were teaching an entire lesson. On top of these videos that we had to watch, we also had a reading assignment that went with the video and the professors would discuss what was taught in the reading, like they would in a normal classroom model. Having a reading assignment that typically was 20+ pages plus a video to watch took forever to do to prepare for class and felt like it's own class in itself. Then having to go sit in class for 2 hours just felt exhausting and really made this feel like 2 classes instead of 1. Another con I personally experienced had to do with living everyday life. Let's be real, life happens. Family emergencies, unexpected medical issues come up, and life just happens. Sometimes things would come up where maybe I didn't have the time to read and watch a video before class and unfortunately I realized that if you didn't get the chance to watch the video at least before class, you would be in class and would not have the material that is going to be worked on in class. I was always told in law school that its better to go to class even if I didn't do the readings because I would still be able to get the material that is being taught in class. However, with the flipped classroom model, I found that if I didn't get the chance to watch the video beforehand and still went to class, I found myself more confused and would just be wasteful because I did not have an understanding of what was going on.
As for the positives of the flipped classroom model that I experienced, I liked that I had access all semester, especially during the finals period, to the recordings of my professor so I would be able to go back and listen to the lecture again if I had questions or couldn't remember what was said. This was a big tool during studying. Also, when watching the lecture videos, I liked that I could pause, rewind, and listen again if the professor was going too fast. This way I didn't have to ask in class for the professor to repeat themselves if they were going too fast (which we all know some professors HATE repeating themselves).
I feel it depends on the subject matter if this flipped classroom model works. It's not my favorite teaching style, but it does have its benefits that I do enjoy. I think its good if the professor uses this model correctly by using the in-person class time to actually apply the concepts through practice questions, but wasteful if they are just going over the material in their recorded lectures again.
Hi Virginia,
ReplyDeleteI avoided those types of classes. I prefer to ask questions during lectures immediately when I do not understand something, and it doesn’t seem like you can do that in a class the follows this model. I do agree that being able to go back and watch recordings is beneficial, especially since some professors speak quickly. It’s unfair that you weren’t told before that the class would utilize this model. The school indicates when a class is primarily online, and it should also indicate when a class will follow the flipped model.
Great article Virginia!
ReplyDeleteI think the flipped classroom model is so interesting. I have taken multiple classes like these and I cant say I either enjoy it or dont enjoy it. I like how I can do it at my own pace as I usually get stuff done alot quicker and therefore feel like pressure or work on my plate. However, I dont feel like I retain information as well, as I would in an engaging in person lecture. I think having different options for different learners is great overall as each person had different perferences.
I took some classes where sections of the class were taught by video lecture and other sections through in person lectures. I think its definitely a matter of student preference, but sometimes that model I found stressful because I'd have to guess how much weight the online lectures would have on the exams. I agree that sometimes it did feel like taking two classes at once with the combined workload. Also, I think its a way professors can try to cover more material in a semester than they could otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThis method does not seem respectful of students' time. If it requires twice as much work, shouldn't the credit hours received for the class be increased?
ReplyDeleteIt is ancient history, but when I was an undergrad, we had large group lectures (typically in a large lecture hall) by a professor followed by small group discussion sections led by one of that professor's graduate assitants. And of course we received credit for our time both attending the lectures and participating in the small group discussion sections. That seems somewhat similar to the flipped classroom model you are discussion, but without modern technology, and both components were live, not recorded.