Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement

Preface

As the first days of school began in 2006–07, we—Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann—arrived to teach science at Woodland Park High School in Woodland Park, Colorado. Jon came from the Denver metropolitan area and settled into Room 313; Aaron came from the greater Los Angeles area to occupy Room 314.

We both had taught chemistry at our previous schools, Jon for eighteen years and Aaron for six. Since we represented the entire chemistry team, we decided to work together to develop a strong chemistry program at Woodland Park High School. Though we were very different in our approaches to teaching, we had similar philosophies: we both wanted to put our students first so they could develop both cognitively and affectively. Our decision to work together created a culture of collaboration and reflection that helped us as we explored ways to use technology to enhance learning.

During the 2006–07 school year we taught traditionally, using a great deal of direct instruction in an engaging lecture style. As part of our collaboration, we decided to use common assessments and experiments so that our students would have a similar experience regardless of which chemistry teacher they were assigned. We met on a regular basis to reflect about best practices and about how to integrate technology into our classes. These voluntary meetings grew out of the fact that we worked together well and realized that two heads are better than one.

One frustration we encountered while teaching at this small school was the large number of absent students caused by school activities. Woodland Park is situated 20 miles and 2500 feet above Colorado Springs. The road to Woodland Park is a winding mountain pass, which made travel to school activities a time consuming challenge: it took 45 minutes to reach the nearest school of comparable size. This commute to events caused students to frequently miss the last class of the day, and missing a difficult subject such as chemistry set those students back.

In the spring of 2007, Aaron discovered a review of a computer program that recorded PowerPoint lectures, including digital ink with which a lecturer could write on the screen as well as an audio component. At this point we were ready to dive into the world of teacher-created video. Ken Boyer, chairman of the Woodland Park High School science department, agreed to contribute $100 for two copies of the software. As they say, The rest is history.

First we used the software to record live lectures. The assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum and instruction in the Woodland Park School District took note and came down for a chat. Her daughter was attending university, and one of her daughter’s professors was recording the audio of his lectures. She told us that her daughter loved this model because she didn’t have to go to class anymore. Later that week, a lunchtime conversation about that interaction ensued, and we asked ourselves: What is the value of class time if a student can access all the content while not attending class? Then we asked: "What do students really need a physically present teacher for?"

As the conversation continued, Aaron said, What if we stopped lecturing in class and pre-recorded all of our lessons? Then, in class, students would do the stuff that they used to do at home? Jon said, OK, let’s do it! After this exchange, neither of us ever used direct instruction as a whole-group, in-class teaching tool again.

During this time of development, we shared what we were doing with a group of teachers online. We had been active on the AP Chemistry listserv for many years, using it to connect and learn from other AP Chemistry teachers from around the world. This group became our sounding board as the concept of the flipped classroom grew. Other teachers who were also experimenting with video as an instructional tool began to emerge, and an informal professional network began to form. The flipped classroom was not born in a vacuum; it was not developed only in Rooms 313 and 314 at Woodland Park High School. Though we were pioneers in developing the flipped classroom, it would have never happened without this broader network of amazing teachers. Eventually, with the partnership of Jerry Overmeyer at the University of Northern Colorado, an online community for educators interested in the flipped classroom was born. This community, the Flipped Learning Network (flippedclassroom.org), has grown exponentially in recent years. As of this writing, it has a membership of over 20,000.

The idea of the flipped classroom is really quite simple: direct instruction is done through video, or some other learning object that students can use individually prior to coming to class. This time shift then allows the teacher to use class time for work that is either better done as a large group, or that requires individualized teacher attention. That’s the flipped classroom in a nutshell: direct instruction delivered to the individual outside of class, and more strategic use of in-class time for group work and individualized attention. We soon found that we had stumbled onto something that could radically transform our classrooms into something we had never dreamed they could become.

Much of this is chronicled in our first book, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, (Bergmann & Sams, 2012). In the first half of that book, we explained the flipped classroom. The second half tells how we were able to implement a mastery model called the flipped mastery model. In the flipped mastery model, students work asynchronously through objectives (competencies) as they master content.

Since the publication of Flip Your Classroom, we have continued to refine the flipped classroom process, along with thousands of educators in the flipped class community. The original flipped classroom concept changed how teachers delivered content, but it was a strategy that was narrowly focused on delivering content efficiently. A flipped classroom didn’t ensure a student-centered classroom. Learning in a flipped classroom was still very much teacher-centric. Even the flipped mastery model was still quite teacher-centric, albeit student-paced.

This book will take you to the logical next step in the evolution of the flipped classroom—flipped learning—a path toward powerful learning and teaching strategies that can transform learning by engaging each student and taking their learning deeper and further.

Introduction

a challenge and the one question

JOHN TAGUE IS a 20-year veteran mathematics teacher from Fairfax, Vermont. Three years ago, a student came to John at the end of class to get some help. She didn’t have time to get a complete explanation, so she said, in exasperation, I will just find a YouTube video to explain it. At that moment, John realized he had to do something different to meet the needs of his students.

John understood that the traditional model, where he stood up and talked at 30 students every day, needed to change. He then scoured Twitter and started looking for answers. Through Twitter, John was able to connect with some flipped classroom advocates. From there, he implemented flipped learning in both his AP Calculus and his ninth-grade math course. Today his students are more actively engaged in their learning. By working with students individually, John was able to make a difference in their learning. Whenever he has a chance to share his experience as a flipped classroom teacher, he says: No one is left behind, no one is held back.

Amber Mueller is a second-year fifth grade teacher at Lily Lake Elementary School in Stillwater, Minnesota. As a first-year teacher, she arrived with energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, she quickly got discouraged, especially with teaching math. She had so many topics to cover and felt like the program she was developing overemphasized the filling in of worksheets. After six months of frustration, she was introduced to flipped learning. Her district started a professional development program centered on flipped learning principles, and she jumped in with both feet. Before Amber implemented flipped learning, her students dreaded math; now they beg to do more. Her students not only watch instructional videos, they are also given a choice in how they demonstrate their understanding of a topic. Amber has even incorporated elements of her flipped math classroom into her literacy course.

Even though these two teachers have pronounced differences in age and experience, they both concluded that something needed to change in education and, more specifically, something needed to change in their classrooms. They aren’t alone. More and more teachers are asking themselves: Do I need to rethink the way I’m teaching my classes? Is there a better learning model than lecture-discussion? Is there a better way to engage students? And they are finding the answers are yes, yes, and yes.

John and Amber each concluded that they needed a personal transformation, and they needed to transform their classrooms into centers of learning and inquiry. Flipped learning gave them a framework with which to accomplish this.

A Challenge to Teachers

This book is about transformation: teachers transforming classrooms and schools from the bottom up to meet the needs of each individual student. This is not an overly academic tome, but rather a book of stories that describe the personal transformations that various teachers have experienced as they follow the path of flipped learning. We invite our readers to join them in this transformation.

Flipped learning is a grassroots movement, not a top-down approach to change. It is changing one teacher at a time, one class at a time, and one school at a time. Teachers need to be the change agents in education. We challenge our readers to be these change agents, to not wait for administrators or reformers to tell you how to change, but to act based on what is best for your students. We challenge teachers to not only consider flipping their classrooms, but to consider moving deeper and further, to flipped learning.

The One Question

How, then, do teachers bring about this change? How do teachers become the transformational change agents in their own school settings? We think there is a fundamental question all teachers need to ask, and at the risk of sounding overly dramatic, we will refer to this question as the One Question. This One Question will be a common thread throughout this book:

What is the best use of face-to-face time with students?

The most valuable assets teachers have are those minutes spent each day with students. Teachers need to leverage those precious minutes to maximize learning. Talking at students each day is not the best use of class time! Students need teachers most when they are stuck on a difficult concept or problem that, in a traditional classroom, often happens at home, when the teacher is unavailable. The best use of class time incorporates enriching learning activities and relevant experiences.

What is the answer? What is the best use of your face-to-face class time? Is it problem-based learning? Is it inquiry? Is it discussion? Is it direct instruction? Is it guided practice? If you are looking for one answer for all your students, you will be frustrated with this book. We will propose many possible answers, and each of the educators featured in these pages will share with you how they answered the One Question for themselves. We do not believe there is only one answer to this question: there are many. In fact, we believe that maybe the greatest power in flipped learning is the ability to individualize the learning for each child. There are many different answers, because each student is different and comes to you with a different set of gifts, abilities, passions, and interests.

We want all educators to ask themselves the One Question, and we believe that answering this question honestly will forever change the way educators teach and interact with students.

Chapter 1

the flipped learning model

WITH THE EDUCATIONAL media outlets full of articles, blog posts, webinars, and interviews about flipped classrooms and flipped learning, many educators are left wondering: What exactly is the flipped classroom? We have hesitated to answer this question because we strongly believe that what we originally called the flipped classroom is just a stage leading to what we were really promoting—flipped learning. This may seem like mincing words, but we want to be clear that what has popularly become known as the flipped classroom is only one basic form of the flipped learning model.

Defining Flipped Learning

The commonly known definition of a flipped classroom is when students watch instructional videos at home and do the typical homework (worksheets, problem sets, back-of-the-chapter exercises) in class. We are calling this version Flipped Class 101. This is the entry point, but it is not the goal or a place to stop. Moving direct instruction out of the group learning space and into the individual learning space is a great place to begin your journey, but it is not the destination itself.

In our first book, Flip Your Classroom (Bergmann & Sams, 2012), we wrote about the first year we flipped using Flipped Class 101. That year we focused primarily on producing high-quality videos for our students. However, as the year progressed, we realized we could use elements of the flipped classroom to move students to mastery. So we moved through Flipped Class 101 and developed the flipped mastery model. Even that wasn’t the ending point. We moved further, into flipped learning.

But what exactly is flipped learning? We like the definition that the Flipped Learning Network (www.flippedlearning.org) adapted from the work of Ramsey Musallam (www.cyclesoflearning.com):

Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is