PositionPaper

JennaJensen
AFlippedMathClassroom
Mathematicscanoftentimesbeadifficultsubjecttohavetimeforhandson
activities.AsIhaverecentlynoticedinmyclinicalexperience,mycooperatingteacher
isdisappointedthatshedoesnothavetimetoimplementhergroupactivities.Ithinkthat
ifsheweretoimplementastrategysuchasaflippedclassroom,thatshemightbeableto
includemoreofthoseactivitiesinherdailyclassroom.Therearemanybenefitsto
flippingamathclassroom,buttherearealsosomesetbacksaswell,howeverthereare
waystodealwiththosespecificsetbacks.
Firstoff,therearesomanybenefitstoaflippedclassroom.Studentswillwatch
videosofinstructionathome,andthencometoschoolwiththisknowledgereadyto
applyittomoredensematerial.Allowingstudentstoviewinstructionoutsideofclass,
allowsmuchmoreopportunityinclassforengagingactivities.Accordingtoahigh
schooltitledByronHighSchool,theyhaveusedFlippedclassroomsandfoundittobe
ofgreatbenefittotheirmathdepartment.Astheflippedtheirmathematicsclassroom,
theycollecteddataanddiscoveredthatsuccessrateswentup,andfailurerateswent
down.Theykeeptheirlessonsatalengthofabout1015minutes,whichIthinkis
beneficialastheyarenottolongwherethestudentswillloseinterest.Forexample,the
geometryfailureratesinthisschoolwentdownabout7percentsincetheintroductionof
flippedclassrooms.Theschoolprovidesmanymoreresultsthatshowthattheflipped
classroomactuallybenefitsstudentlearning(ByronHighSchool).

Therearemanyreasonswhyflippedclassroomswork.Firstofall,theyallow
studentstogohomeandwatchavideo.Ifstudentsareconfusedduringthevideo,they
canstop,pauseandrewindinordertomakesuretheyhaveabettergraspontheconcept,
thisissomethingthatcannotbedoneinclass.Sothatwaystudentswhomightbe
strugglingwithcontent,cangoattheirownpace.AccordingtotheDailyRiff,that
containsanarticleonwhataflippedclassroomis,italsoallowsstudentstogetmorein
classtimeforindividualoneononehelp.Teacherscanalsoimplementmoreinteractive,
groupandengagingactivitiesinclassusingtheinformationthestudentshavelearned
(Bergmann).Thisclassroomallowsstudentstotakeresponsibilityfortheirownlearning.
Ibelievetheclassroomenvironmentandstudentscouldbenefitgreatlyfromthistypeof
changingtheclassroom.
AnarticlewrittenbyPresidentLindaM.GojakoftheNationalCouncilof
TeachersofMathematicstitledToFlipornottoFlip:ThatisNOTtheQuestion.
Discussesthatflippedclassroomscanbebeneficialifdoneright.Shespecificallydoes
nothaveanopinion,butifyouaretoflipaclassroominneedstobedonesoinan
engagingway.Shestatesthatflippedclassroomsshouldnotjustbeademonstration
videoofdoingaspecificprocedure,butratheryouneedtoconsiderstudentneedswhen
buildingyourflippedclassroom.Itneedstobedoneinawaythatisgoingtoworkwith
yourstudents(Gojak).
Therearealsosomedisadvantagestoaflippedclassroomaswell.Thesecan
includetheaccessissueforstudents,aswellaswhathappensifstudentsdonotwatchthe
videos.TheteachersofByronHighSchoolseemtoadoagodjobofmanagingthis

situation,byprovidingquizzesforthevideosaswellasapolicy.Ifstudentsmissmore
then2videosinarow,theymustspend30minutesthenextdaywiththeteachertocatch
up.Thisforcesstudentstokeepupwiththeflippedclassroom(ByronHighSchool).
Ithinkthemathclassroomcouldreallybenefitfromaflippedclassroom.Ithink
tooftenstudentsgetlecturedatbyateacher,andgetshownexamples,andthengohome
withquestionsontheirhomework.Withtheflippedclassroom,studentslearnthe
mathematicalconceptsathome,andcomepreparedwithquestionsfortheirteachers.
Teachersthenhavetheopportunitytohelpstudentsoneonone,andstudentscantake
theirvideosattheirownpace.Thiscanbeverybeneficialassomestudentspickupon
mathematicalconceptsfasterthenothers.

Sources
Bergmann,John,JerryOvermyer,andBrettWille."TheDailyRiffBESMARTER.
ABOUTEDUCATION."TheFlippedClass:Mythsvs.Reality.N.p.,9July2013.
Web.11Feb.2015.http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/theflippedclass
conversation689.php
Gojak,LindaM."ToFliporNottoFlip:ThatIsNOTtheQuestion."NationalCouncilof
TeachersofMathematics.NationalCouncilofTeachersofMathematics,3Oct.
2012.Web.11Feb.2015.<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nctm.org%2FNewsand
Calendar%2FMessagesfromthePresident%2FArchive%2FLindaM_Gojak
%2FToFliporNottoFlip_ThatIsNOTtheQuestion!%2F>.
"FlippedClassroomByronHighSchoolMathematicsDepartment."FlippedClassroom
ByronHighSchoolMathematicsDepartment.ByronHighSchool,n.d.Web.11
Feb.2015.<https://sites.google.com/a/byron.k12.mn.us/byronhighschool
mathematicsdepartment/flippedclassroom>.