To flip or not to flip? Analysis of a flipped classroom pedagogy in a general biology course9/25/2016 In this study conducted by William H. Heyborne and Jamis J. Perrett of Utah State University, the flipped classroom model is compared to the traditional lecture format in an introductory biology course for science majors. The study was inconclusive but did suggest that there may be something to the flipped classroom improving student performance. Analysis of the study showed that student perception of the course was improved in the flipped classroom, and student achievement was relatively equal.
The article begins by introducing the concept of the flipped classroom, which has already been established on this blog. However, two things stood out to me in introducing the concept. First, the flipped classroom model was referred to as an inverted classroom, which was the first time I had heard that. Additionally, the text suggests that "successful implementation request hat students truly engage with the lecture material outside of class. To some degree the development of textbooks represented a flip, as the teacher was no longer the sole source of information. However, anyone who has taught knows the challenge associated with convincing students to spend worthwhile time with a textbook" (Heyborne, 2016). I found this to be an interesting point against the flipped classroom. The study looked at two sections of the general biology course taught concurrently. The first, a class of 71 students, was taught using a lecture format, three days a week, at 8 a.m.. The second, a class of 68 students, was taught using the flipped classroom model at 2 p.m. on the same days. The lecture format was taught using PowerPoint slides in class that were made available to students outside of class. The flipped classroom also had access to these PowerPoints in addition to narrated and animated slides that were not available to the lecture format sections of the course, and both course utilized electronic clickers, homework sets, chapter quizzes, and exams. Student achievement was analyzes based on a pretest and several exam scores. Five of the six exams taken after the pretest showed that the mean scores for the flipped classroom were greater than the mean scores of the lecture format, however only one of those exams was considered significantly greater for the flipped classroom. Thus, it cannot be said that the flipped classroom was better than the lecture format. Interestingly, the course evaluations suggested a more positive attitude towards the flipped classroom than the lecture format with 19 wholly positive responses, 13 wholly negative responses, and 10 mixed responses on course evaluations. Students seemed to like the lectures available outside of class but often thought that class time was wasted due to lack of participation among students in the classroom. Of the eight responses that were specifically about the lectures for the lecture-based course, 3 were wholly positive and 5 were wholly negative. Two of the students who responded wholly negative wanted access to the lectures available to the students in the flipped classroom. The results of the course evaluations suggest that students have a better attitude towards the flipped classroom than the lecture-based classroom. In the conclusion, the authors of the study suggest that more research is necessary on a larger scale, and that there is no conclusive literature on the topic to this point despite a lot of interest in the topic. The reasons that larger scale research has not been done, suggest the authors, is because there are to many restraints on schools and teachers to do so. However, such research would be welcomed. My Thoughts I find it interesting that class time in the flipped classroom was viewed as a waste of time by many students. I am curious whether those students feel that that issue was attributed to the instructor, the activities chosen for class time, or unwillingness to work together by peers. This is the first study I have looked at in the college setting, and I know that college is a different animal than the middle or high school classroom. I wonder if the attitudes of college students, especially those who were science majors, hindered the ability for classes students to work together. I don't see the harm in having lectures available online, like in a flipped classroom, when classes are taught in a lecture format anyway. The only negatives, to me, seem to be that questions cannot be asked immediately and students may not access the lectures regularly, as the authors suggest. If class time had been more effective, I think the studies may have suggested an impact due to the flipped classroom. References Heyborne, W. H., & Perrett, J. J. (2016). To Flip or Not to Flip? Analysis of a Flipped Classroom Pedagogy in a General Biology Course. Journal Of College Science Teaching, 45(4), 31-37.
3 Comments
Alex Gardner
11/9/2016 09:06:38 am
Hi Taylor,
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Alex Gardner
11/9/2016 09:08:31 am
Hey Taylor,
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Alex Gardner
11/9/2016 09:09:45 am
Hello Taylor,
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