{"id":4947,"date":"2019-09-09T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T13:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=4947"},"modified":"2019-09-05T09:46:55","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T14:46:55","slug":"flipping-the-classroom-asking-the-right-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/flipping-the-classroom-asking-the-right-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Flipping the Classroom: Asking the Right Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

When teachers hear about an intriguing new approach, like–say–“flipping the classroom,”we’re inclined to ask: “but does it work?<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Let me propose a different question:\u00a0“under what circumstances<\/strong> does it work?”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After all, we should assume that many teaching techniques work for this teacher<\/em> instructing these students<\/em> in this topic<\/em>. Alas, those same techniques might not work for that teacher<\/em> teaching those students<\/em> this other topic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So, ask not “does flipping the classroom work?” Instead, ask “does flipping the classroom help seventh graders in Germany learn three basic algebraic principles?”<\/p>\n

That question might sound obscure. (Okay, I’m sure it sounds obscure.)<\/p>\n

But: research can answer that second question. It can answer the first only by answering the second dozens (or hundreds) of different ways.<\/p>\n

So, Does It?<\/h2>\n

Here’s a very particular example. Doctors in Finland have to write very particular kinds of insurance certificates. Therefore, Finnish medical schools have to teach future doctors to write them.<\/p>\n

So our question is: “Does flipping the classroom help Finnish medical students learn to write insurance certificates?”<\/p>\n

To answer that question<\/a>, researchers did everything you’d want them to do. They had one professor teach the lecture-only version of that skill. The med students then practiced at home.<\/p>\n

For a different group of med students, the professor created a short video for students to watch at home. And, they practiced the skill in class with the professor’s guidance.<\/p>\n

Which group learned better?<\/p>\n

The Envelope, Please<\/h2>\n

The flipped classroom group learned better. A LOT BETTER. The cohen’s d value was 2.85. (I’m typically delighted by a d value of 0.50 or higher. I can’t remember another 2.85.)<\/p>\n

So, clearly all teachers should start flipping the classroom–right?<\/p>\n

NO WE SHOULD NOT.<\/p>\n

This study showed that Finnish med students learned certificate writing better this way.<\/em><\/p>\n

But, this is a niche-ey topic indeed.<\/p>\n

These are fourth year med students. They’re nearing the end of a highly technical education. They’re as good at school as any students on the planet.<\/p>\n

Also, they’re learning a discrete skill. I don’t know much about Finnish medical insurance, but I’m guessing it’s quite a distinct genre. The video covering this skill lasted four-and-one-half minutes.<\/p>\n

In other words: if you’re teaching very advanced students a very narrow topic, then this study might encourage you to flip the classroom.<\/p>\n

But, if you’re teaching beginners, or you’re teaching complex and abstract material, you might want to find other research before trying out this technique.<\/p>\n

For instance: this study<\/a> of students learning epidemiology showed that flipping the classroom made essentially no difference<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n

I have a research adjacent (although, not research supported) opinion about flipping the classroom.<\/p>\n

As always, I think the key variable is working memory<\/strong>. The headline is: teachers should have students to do the heavy WM work\u00a0in the classroom<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So: I guess that the basic principles of insurance certificate writing are easy to understand. But,\u00a0applying them to specific circumstances<\/em> can be more challenging.<\/p>\n

That is: the application takes more WM. For that reason, watching a video at home and practicing in class with the prof makes sense.<\/p>\n

In the case of–say–analysis of literature<\/em>, those demands are reversed. Students can read stories quite effectively on their own. So, that should be the homework. But, the\u00a0analysis<\/em> of that literature requires lots of complex working memory initiative. This sort of discussion should be in-class, with the teacher, and not online.<\/p>\n

I’ve never seen research consider flipped classrooms from a WM perspective. But, that framework seems to offer reasonable guidelines–especially if you can’t find research that matches your situation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

After I drafted the post above, I found this recent meta-analysis<\/a>. The headline is that it found modest benefits to flipping the classroom, but that they were subject specific. Alas, the abstract doesn’t say\u00a0which disciplines<\/em> do and don’t benefit. I hope it becomes public soon, so we can find out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When should teachers “flip the classroom”? A study from Finland offers helpful guidance…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15,29],"class_list":["post-4947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog","tag-classroom-advice","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4947"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4961,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947\/revisions\/4961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}