Teachers ‘flip’ their lectures, homework to reach more students
The idea is that by working on ‘homework’ in class, teachers and students get more out of their time together. – By ANGIE MASON
Daily Record/Sunday News

http://www.ydr.com/ci_19714230

“When I started teaching introductory physics to undergraduates at Harvard University, I never asked myself how I would educate my students. I did what my teachers had done – I lectured. I thought that was how one learns. Look around anywhere in the world and you’ll find lecture halls filled with students and, at the front, an instructor. This approach to education has not changed since before the Renaissance and the birth of scientific inquiry. Early in my career I received the first hints that something was wrong with teaching in this manner, but I had ignored it. Sometimes it’s hard to face reality. … I discovered that the students were right. My lecturing was ineffective, despite the high evaluations. …The traditional approach to teaching reduces education to a transfer of information. Before the industrial revolution, when books were not yet mass commodities, the lecture method was the only way to transfer information from one generation to the next.” – Dr Eric Mazur, Harvard University

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/323/5910/50.short
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/323/5910/50/DC1

“With inverted learning, these forward-thinking educators say, students can absorb the material as homework and then practice what they’ve learned with guided help from the teacher if they need it. This new learning style not only makes class time more productive for both teachers and students, but also increases student engagement, increases achievement, and caters to all forms of personalized learning, say the teachers.” – Meris Stansbury, eSchool News

More positive news from real teachers, real students and real classrooms.

Please read the full article here.

“Flipping the classroom has transformed our teaching practice. We no longer stand in front of our students and talk at them for thirty to sixty minutes at a time. This radical change has allowed us to take on a different role with our students. Both of us taught for many years (a combined thirty-seven years) using this model. We were both good teachers. In fact, Jonathan received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching while being the sage on the stage, and Aaron received the same award under the Flipped model. Though as we look back, we could never go back to teaching in the traditional manner.” – Jonathan Bergmann, Aaron Sams

Please read the complete post here.

You’ll see all the same complaints and issues raised, but Tae’s solution is perhaps more akin to the college classroom than the corporate or military training center. I hope his vision seeds some constructive feedback. In my opinion it is sorely needed.

Dr. Tae — Building A New Culture Of Teaching And Learning
http://vimeo.com/5513063

I really think you have to try designing and teaching an inverted class. Maybe try a short course on a topic that you know pretty well so you can move a little faster and concentrate on the delivery and feedback cycles of the class itself. I think you’ll be amazed. Keep in mind that there are all kinds of variables that make the approach more or less attractive: size of class, median age of student, amount of material to cover, nature of the subject, etc. In general I think the model fits well to subjects like engineering, math and physical science. I can see other applications to foreign languages and the arts following directly too. What do you think? Where does it not fit?

In my humble opinion the lecture “system” has stayed well past its welcome. In fact, I am really thinking of looking into its history. It’s been around since the time of the Greeks and might very well have peaked with Socrates. In the Medieval university, what we would call a lecture was a guy standing in front of an audience who read extremely rare and expensive books to anxious listeners who might also copy them down. You can see that right up through the Victorian Era the lecture was really an important and efficient way to disseminate hard-to-find information to a interested group while providing a modest amount of interaction. But now I fear its only done because a) its expected (as you say in your note); and b) its easy (and cheap). My own cynical opinion is that it’s been kept on life support because it’s easier and cheaper for the presenter or the training department. I suspect as students change, factor a) will diminish. And meanwhile schools and universities will come under more market forces resulting from a new emphasis among “consumers” regarding “what am I getting from this experience?” Less cynically, it might just be that the inverted classroom is simply more efficient and more enjoyable, rendering ever burgeoning class outlines more manageable.