Week 3 - Key consideration when designing flipped classrooms

What got me most excited about the flipped classroom is the flexibility of it. This is twofold: both in the face-to-face teaching environment, but also between these sessions with the learning materials. In between sessions, students can watch pre-recorded lectures at their own pace, rewatch, take notes, watch anywhere anytime. Now that the students have consumed the necessary information, the face-to-face sessions can be more workshop, less lecture.

The second benefit I can see is the way it can be adapted to different learning needs of students. People don’t all learn the same way, and this is especially noticeable in creative courses. In Masters courses, we also expect independent study and thinking from students too, so once they have taken in the supplied material they can get on with delving deeper.

Lastly it can be more varied than traditional methods. With flipped learning, instead of students listening to the same lecturer each session, they are spoilt with learning material from a range of sources in a range of styles. This is clearly more interesting for the learners, but also challenges them to think in a broader way.

What is most important when designing a flipped classroom? Make sure the out-of-class content is suitable for the student’s expected knowledge level. It should be challenging but not baffling and too daunting, as this can put students off. In a Masters level, it should challenge students to engage in independent thinking, not just within the parameters of the material.

Give students some idea of what will be covered in the live session, so that they can come with questions and initial thoughts. When working with visual content, they may want to create mood boards of source material for the session activities. This small bit of preparation will mean that they will be able to personalise the session to their interests and needs.

Thoroughly plan for the live session, but plan for the unexpected. Allow plenty of time for questions and discussions, as hopefully there will be questions!

As I haven’t properly planned for a flipped classroom approach before, I’m sure this list will change over the next few weeks!