Students' Perceptions and Emotions Toward LEarning in a Flipped General Science Classroom10/30/2016 This article summarizes the research and findings of Jin Su Jeong, David Gonzalez-Gomez, and Florentina Canada-Canada. In their study, the researchers look at students' perceptions and emotions toward learning in a flipped general science course at the Training Teaching School of the University of Extremadura in Spain in the second semester of the 2015/2016 school year. The results of this study showed that 80% of students in a flipped general science course considered the course a valuable learning experience in addition to many other encouraging findings that I will begin to elaborate on.
The authors introduce the article by explaining the importance of emotions in decision-making, citing research by Valerie Otereo and Antonio Damasio. Then, they explain the methodology of the study. The data for the study was taken from a questionnaire given to students near the end of the course (to ensure maximum participation). The course had 88 students, 66 of which were participating in the study. Of these 66 students, 65% were male and 35% were female, and the average age of the participants was 21 years old. The course was designed so that students could access online video lectures up to a week before the material was addressed in class, and for the rest of the course afterwards. After watching the videos, students took a quiz over the material in the lectures, so that the professor could gauge their understanding. This provided the opportunity for "just-in-time" lecturing, where short, last-minute lectures were given to clarify misunderstandings. Class time was split into three 50-minute sessions to work theoretical contents and one 50-minute sessions of laboratory and collaborative works, where classes were in groups of 22, 22, and 23. The role of the professor in these classes was to "observe, address concerns and deliver clarifications when they needed" (Jeong). When they course was nearly finished, students took a questionnaire that assessed their emotions and perceptions towards the course. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions about the video lectures and other provided materials, 5 questions about the methodology as a whole, a list of 5 keywords students would use to describe the course, and a measure of frequency of positive and negative emotions that students experienced in the course. Some Statistics:
The authors conclude that the study is in support of students' feeling positively towards the flipped classroom model, and that their study supports earlier studies that have had similar results. The authors do concede that more research is necessary to validate these findings, and that research is needed for the instructor's emotions and perceptions towards teaching a flipped classroom. References Jeong, J. S., Gonzalez-Gomez, D., & Canada-Canada, F. (2016, October). Students' Perceptions and Emotions Toward Learning in a Flipped General Science Classroom. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 25(5), 747-758.
2 Comments
This article by Kathleen Fulton begins by telling a story from Byron High School in the Byron School District in Minnesota. In fall 2009, the math department at the school desperately needed to replace their curriculum because their current textbooks were in extremely bad condition. However, the district had no money to fund new books or a new curriculum. The article quotes then-Superintendent Wendy Shannon as saying, “We literally had no money for textbooks” (Fulton, 2012, pg. 20) The math teachers at the school took matters into their own hands by deciding to make their own curriculum using online resources. However, they realized that students had nothing to help them do their homework when they were on their own. To address this issue they began recording their lectures and uploading them to Youtube for students to refer to.
At this point, the teachers had never heard of a flipped classroom or knew what it was, but their next decision flipped their classroom. The teachers saw that they could have students just watch the lectures at home and spend class time problem solving and having discussions about the content. Two years later, in 2011, Byron High School was awarded the School of Distinction Award for Mathematics from Intel, and today all math classes at Byron High School use the flipped classroom model. Following the story of Byron High School, the article lists the top ten reasons for adopting a flipped classroom as written by the Byron High School math teachers. They are the following: #1. Students move at their own pace. The argument here is that some students learn to quickly in a traditional classroom model while others do not learn fast enough. The flipped classroom allows students to watch a lecture and learn at their appropriate speed because they have the ability to pause, rewind, etc. #2. Doing homework in class gives teachers better insight into student difficulties and learning styles. In traditional classrooms teachers do not know what a student is struggling on until after an assignment is turned in, but with a flipped classroom the teacher is in the room while the student is doing their “homework” and able to see mistakes/misunderstanding and address them then and there. #3. Teachers can customize and update the curriculum, and provide it to students 24/7. There are two arguments here. The first is that although there are many resources available to learn math concepts on Youtube, in this model, teachers create their own videos which are customizable to the content, rigor, and background of its students. Secondly, the flipped classroom addresses absenteeism. Students have access to a teacher’s lectures at all times, including when they are absent. #4. Students have access to multiple teachers’ expertise. Because multiple teachers often teach the same course, students can go watch other teacher’s lectures when they are still confused after their own teacher’s explanations. #5. Teachers flip professional development by watching each other’s videos and learning from each other. Teachers can better themselves by learning from their peers’ video lectures. #6. Classroom time can be used more effectively and creatively. Teachers have freedom to spend class time in way that fits the needs of the students. Class time can be spent doing hands-on, problem-based, and/or project-based activities. #7. Parents have a window into the classroom. Because many parents struggle to help their children with their math homework, the videos are beneficial for them too. #8. Student Achievement is increasing so is interest and engagement in higher-level math. The data collected by Byron High School’s teachers is showing that students are having higher achievement in the flipped classrooms versus the traditional classrooms they used to use. #9. Learning theory Supports the new approaches. The flipped classroom aligns with instructional techniques supported by research on learning theory. “Limits on video uploading capacity means content is chunked into manageable, understandable units. As they determine how often they need to review a lesson, students must constantly assess their understanding of material building thinking skills. With students using classroom time to complete problems demonstrating their understanding, they get immediate feedback on their work, as well as just-in-time support from teachers and peers. They often view videos together, work in teams in class, and learn through teaching one another via peer tutoring – approaches validated by social learning theory” (Fulton, 2012, pg. 22). #10. The use of technology is flexible and appropriate for 21-st century skills. Students and teachers need to know how to use technology and the internet to teach and learn. The article concludes by giving on additional reason (reason 11) to flip the classroom, students like the flipped classroom, and provides some positive testimonials from students from a survey at the end of their courses. My Thoughts I liked that the article provided a narrative of a specific school’s experience with the flipped classroom. It is very interesting that the teachers at Byron High School did not know what a flipped classroom was, but stumbled upon that model naturally as they attempted to make their own curriculum. I thought some of their 10 arguments were stronger than others. I really like that the flipped classroom allows students to work at their own pace, addresses absenteeism, and transforms class time. All of these are great challenges teachers face in their jobs regularly. These alone could convince some to flip their classrooms. It was also important the teachers address what the data and research on flipped classroom showed, and for their school it seemed to be working. My issue is that their data was only for their school and what sets their school apart from many others is that their survey found that “97% of our students have access to high-speed internet at home” (Fulton, 2012, pg. 24). This is not the case in many places. What is going to be done for students without internet access? That seems like a big difficult especially in rural district where that percentage is probably at or below 50%. I would be really interested to see how this has worked in a college environment, where the students are assumed to care about their education and the professors generally teach in lecture format anyway, going way too fast for many students. References Fulton, K. P. (2012). 10 reasons to flip. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(2), 20–24. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2017
Categories |