Flipping in Higher Ed (Part I)

As the demand for a skilled work force intensifies, the time instructors are able ti spend with students continues to shrink. Given copious budget constraints, academic calendar redesigns, and increased responsibilities, instructors are forced to carefully plan and implement each lesson to meet the needs of every student they encounter. How can instructors be sure that their students are learning? How does he/she know if the students have the skill set ready for the work force? Enter the flipped classroom in higher education.

As K-12 has adopted to changes regarding curriculum, budget, and time with students, higher ed. is slowly following suit. Many instructors at the college I work at (Northeast Wisconsin Technical College) have been eager to learn how they might be able to flip their lecture and utilize their class time with students in a more meaningful and productive manner. Gone are the days of a straight 1-hour lecture. Welcome the days of collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, and interdependence. Instructors are utilizing the little time they have students to assess whether learning has taken place and if students are ready to be tested on a given set of skills/competencies.

Take one of our Medical Assistant instructors for example. Students are required to learn the billing and information system utilized by industry in the Green Bay Area. Students need hands-on, practical use of this system in order to understand its functions. Instead of spreading hours in class teaching the system, our instructor has flipped her lessons to provide students the pertinent details. Thus, she is providing class time to work in small groups so that students can practice the skills necessary to show they understand how to use the system and overcome glitches that may occur. All the while being present to help students if and when they struggle.

We also have a physics instructor that utilizes the flipped classroom exclusively to give students the lecture component of her class outside of lecture time. By nature, this course is designed to have a lecture component and lab component. Traditional instructors would use lecture time to give students the necessary notes and formulas, and ask them to complete practice problems and scenarios outside of class time as homework. For our instructor, she found students coming to lab with plenty of questions and misconceptions about the topic that was to be learned.

Through flipping, she found that students struggled less with writing down and obtaining the material, and more with applying their knowledge to practical problems. She was now able to work more closely with students on applying the knowledge to problems, clear any misconceptions, thus preparing them for the lab exercises at a more successful rate. This instructor has valued the time she has with students to make sure she is available when they are present in her class. In doing so, she has seen her course success rates increase dramatically.

While these are only a few of the many examples of flipping at the collegiate level, instructors would be hard pressed not to think about applying flipping to their classes. Helping students understand the practical applications and skills necessary for a given set of learning requirements will help them be more successful in industry. And we've only touched the surface in the benefits. Next time we will look at the employ ability/soft skills that can be learned through flipped learning.

But They Don't Watch the Video!

While I have presented on the flipped classroom nearly a dozen times, to a variety of audiences (Middle/High School Teachers, Health Science Instructors, College Deans, Higher Ed. Instructors, and more), I can say, without a doubt, that the most frequent question I have received is, "But what if my students don't watch the video or complete the pre-work for my class?"

Although a very valid question and concern, I often respond very candidly to the audience, enticing them to look at their current instructional practices and how a flipped classroom addresses this very issue. My first response generally follows the line of, "What do you currently do if students come to class without their homework done, or haven't read the assigned reading, or failed to complete the project you assigned?" This response usually helps to lay the ground work for the remainder of my response. Undoubtedly, you will have students that fail to come to your class unprepared with the information you gave them to be a successful class participant. But then I challenge the audience to examine the activities they have planed after giving pre-work.

If you have activities planned that require very little pre-knowledge, or can be completed by looking to others for help, you may want to reconsider that given activity. If students can skate through your class by merely recalling what was taught, or retelling what they have learned in a different way, you are not challenging them enough, or allowing them to tap into their creative genius side. If students can answer your questions without having viewed a video or read an article, then you're not asking the right questions.

Don't get me wrong, checking for information accuracy is important. But how you go about checking for accuracy can make a world of a difference in whether or not students complete the required pre-work. For example, recent studies show that many of your younger students thrive on game-based educational experiences. Any way you can incorporate competition and gaming in your classroom, you are sure to raise engagement. One of the best FREE on-line tools available to do this is through Kahoot, a trivia, game-based web tool that allows participants to answer questions while playing against one another. Gone are the clickers and apps for this tool, as it's completely web based! Better yet, Kahoot will report out the results in a neat and easy Excel file for you to evaluate when you have time. Learn more at getkahoot.com 

If you fear technology, no worries! Try building a small group discussion outline for students to share information with each other and provide feedback to others. A simple 3-2-1 activity would suffice. Ask students to identify 3 items they learned from the pre-work (objective), 2 items they found interesting (subjective), and 1 question they still have. Have each group member share their items with their small group, and then allow the other members to respond. By giving students an opportunity to share what they learned, as well as others a chance to respond, you are creating evaluation and synthesizing into your classroom early!

After checking for information accuracy, you need to plan your in-class activities strategically. Can you build an activity that allows students to create, analyze, and synthesize the information they were to have gained by completing the pre-class work? Did you provide them 'just' enough information outside of class to entice them to be successful in class? Do you have options for your students in how they can complete a given task to demonstrate their understanding of a concept.

You see, as the educator, you have to build excitement and wonder into your classroom. Your students want to be challenged by what you ask them to complete. They want the pre-class work to be meaningful so that they can use it to create a product that not only you will be pleased with, but also themselves. If your students aren't completing the pre-class work or video, you might just want to step back and take a look in the mirror - what are you doing to encourage they have it done???

Where Do I Start?

After presenting and discussing the flipped classroom and the benefits to student learning and engagement, I'm often approached with questions about, "where do I even begin?" While the idea of flipping a classroom is enticing to many educators, many are daunted with the tasks that might be required to begin. How do I create a video? Where do I host my video? What if my students don't have access to technology? While all are very excellent questions to ponder, sometimes we need to remember to focus on the learning objectives we want students to accomplish given a flipped lesson. The benefits in the long run help to generate class discussions and activities that time may not present in a traditional classroom setting. Yet, the looming question still exists - WHERE DO I START?

Allow me to offer the following guide to flipping a class.....or perhaps flipping a lesson!
1) Start Small - Don't think you need to flip an entire class for an entire school year. Start with one chapter, or even one lesson - maybe a lesson that you know students in the past historically struggled with.

2) Build Your Lesson Backward - This is the trick to building an effective flipped lesson. What do you want students to accomplish after the lesson is finished? What outcomes must the students be able to demonstrate to prove they have learned and how can they show you? What activities do you have planned for class time?

3) Check For Information Accuracy - Provide students with a notes check, entrance ticket, quick assessment, class discussion, text protocol, etc to ensure students are prepared for you in-class activity. This is a critical component to flipping to hold students accountable for obtaining information outside of class.

4) Design Your Flipped Instruction - What is the bare minimum information your students will need to complete the in-class activity successfully? How can you provide them with that information - reading a text, case-study, or article; watching a demonstration on video, or even a video lecture?


Through designing your lesson backward, you will be able to keep focused on the most important aspect of flipping a class or lesson - student learning. By identifying what you want students to accomplish, you can build the rest of the flipped lesson to meet those demands.

Best of luck flipping!

Flipping - Do You Need a Video?

"What the recent research on student learning has concluded is that the more actively students are involved in the learning process and take personal responsibility for their learning outcomes, the greater are the learning results."
~ Todd M. Davis & Patricia Hillman Murrell, Turning Teaching into Learning. ASHE-ERIC

Would you be surprised if I told you that Flipping Instruction has been in existence since colleges adopted textbooks? Would it shock you to know that all educators have participated in a Flipped Learning experience, probably without ever recognizing it? Odds are that Flipped Learning experience did not include a video at all!

During this past summer, I transitioned to my new role as Faculty Development Consultant at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. I was eager to use my experiences in Flipping to help instructors improve their instructional practices. While I successfully Flipped my Middle School Math class through videos, I quickly learned that Flipping an entire college course may not be as easy. And that's when it hit me - many instructors already Flip some of their lessons without even knowing they have.

There is a large misconception in higher education that Flipping a lesson or class MUST include a video lesson. However, what about those instructors that assign readings to be done outside of class, or a case-study to analyze in order to apply knowledge during the next class. These instructors are choosing to give students information to read and analyze outside of class in order to maximize their face-to-face time, creating authentic learning experiences for students to evaluate and create with their instructor present.

I will be the first to admit, I thought Flipping could only be done via a video - wow was I wrong. Flipping needs to continue to focus on the face-to-face time instructors and teachers have with their students and how to best utilize that time. By giving students the 'must-have' information outside of class, instructors are able to create authentic learning experiences that encourage students to be engaged while creating evidence that learning has occurred.

If you are considering Flipping, make sure to analyze what outcomes you expect to see in your students. What can you ask them to do that you need not be present for as an instructor? What activities do your students need you for that you wish you had more time to spend on? To be successful at Flipping, you have to provide meaningful, creative, and authentic activities during class that illustrate to your students the importance of the learning that needed to occur outside of class!

The Names Behind the Numbers

Recently, the state of Wisconsin released their annual school district report cards. A measurement tool to inform the public on the performance of schools state wide, the report card mentions graduation rates, math and reading scores on state standardized tests, achievement gaps, and attendance rates. While some will use these reports as a tool to choose a school for their child/children, others use the report to point out deficiencies in a school district. Thus, upon identifying a problem area, districts often try to find the next 'bandaid' to put over the blemish and hope their 'cure' works on the next go around of standardized testing.

School districts are quick to jump on the next fad in education and apply it to their blemish in hopes of raising test scores or a report card score. Quantitative data is easy to find, easy to measure, and usually provides some immediate feedback. And school districts rely do heavily on this form of data collection that often has very little long-term effect. School districts ought to invest their time and money in Qualitative Data tools to help answer some of the most difficult and systemic problems facing public education. The problem - qualitative data takes time, effort, and resources. Unfortunately, education as a whole has been missing two quality measurement sticks; student profiles and high quality teachers.

The first, student profile, is a touchy subject that many are unwilling to touch. Let's wake up and face the facts - today's students are coming to school farther behind than compared to students 20 years ago. There are any number of reasons to explain why students are not entering 4K or Kindergarten unprepared, but let's agree to admit they start school already behind. Perhaps mom/dad are both working full-time, some two jobs, just to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. There is little time to read, practice the alphabet, or learn how to count. Rather than placing blame, education needs to accept the fact and educate families on how they can help prepare students for school.

Perhaps this explains the various gaps in reading and math. For just as many students that come to school unprepared, there is an equal amount of students that are entering school prepared or even ahead. The very minute students enter school, a natural 'gap' is already in existence. Thus, school districts are asked to quickly come up with a 'bandaid' that will cover up that gap and hope their plan sticks and lasts long enough to notice a difference. All the while, students go home to two different worlds; the have's and the have-nots. While I applaud school districts for the steps they are taking in educating families about the important role they play in education, we face many battles ahead in closing the natural gap that will exist for ever.

Graduation rates and attendance rates are overused, over emphasized, and highly touted measurement sticks that are too often the result of individual student motivation. Unfortunately, for every student that does not graduate or is absent from school, a district receives a blemish. Thus, districts are left scrambling to find a 'bandaid' that will cover that blemish in time for the next report. All the while, the WHY behind a student choice never gets evaluated.

Perhaps Johnny lives with his single mother of three, and his mom lost her job. Johnny is the oldest and decides he needs to step up and earn a living for his family to survive. Or maybe Jane lives in an abusive home and doesn't want to leave her younger sibling home alone with dad. Yes, I know these are both extreme scenarios. However, the point is that we fail to step back and look at the whole picture. What have we done as a school to support each child that is absent or drops out? Have we reached out to those students and made meaningful connections with them, thus making them miss those people that care about them when they are absent?

Which leads to the most significant and underutilized asset of every school - the classroom teacher! School districts need to invest more time and resources on helping their teachers develop rapport with each and every student. I will be the first to admit - my college degree did nothing in helping to prepare me to work with ALL students. This was an area I had to seek out myself and build upon only through experience. You see, students with a great background and pedigree in education are easy to teach. They often have their homework done, follow directions, and give us little grief in school. But what about the students that struggle or are behind their peers academically.

As a teacher, I enjoyed working with these students the most. Watching them light up as they made gains and realized they were capable of far more than they gave themselves credit for was the best reward I could receive as a teacher. But it didn't happen overnight. It was an investment on my part. Building a rapport with students takes time and is difficult to measure - in part because it's different for each and every student. Yet, school districts are often reluctant to put an emphasis in this area because of the time, effort, and resources it takes to support a teacher in this way.

School districts already demand too much of their teachers - lesson plans, grades, behavior reports, team meetings, district meetings, and the list could go on and on. However, very few of these demands has any impact on teacher-student rapport. If I noticed Jimmy was absent from school today, I needed to find my own time to call home and talk with him. Or I needed to take an extra 5 minutes when Jimmy returned to discuss WHY he was absent, rather than what he missed by being gone from school. Sometimes the invest in the child as a whole becomes greater than the child as a student. However, districts assume this is a skill most teachers inherently possess.

Now is the time to stop spending money on quantitative tools and their results and focus more on the names behind the numbers - the students and teachers. School districts need to stand up for their students and their teachers. Imagine the change a district can make and the impact they can have on student success when they invest in the student as a whole and helping to prepare teachers to work with ALL students of varying backgrounds. Change will not occur overnight, however, change has to start somewhere. One district, even one school, could impact how we look at data, standardized testing, and the whole student.

Even one teacher can make an impact! Are you the ONE!?

Do You Let Your Students Drive?

The demands on today's educators to meet the needs of ALL learners continue to evolve and change quicker than the rise of Twitter. When you examine the teacher workload that includes high-stakes testing, incorporation of technology, behavior plans, Individualized Educational Plans, intervention strategies/programs, performance-based pay, and coaching duties - it's no wonder lesson planning and high-quality instruction may take a back seat.

Yet, there is a very unique and humble solution - Let the Students Drive! Who knows their own learning style better than each and every student. Why must we continue to confine students to the same rigor and assessment style that has not worked for decades? As educators, we set the criteria for learning, but why not let the students choose how they show you what has been learned?

While a bit scary, and perhaps intimidating at first, allowing your students to drive their education will engage them in the learning process in ways you could have never imagine. Instead of asking students to recite a formula in math, why not let them create a rap or song to show off their artistic side? Rather than an old-fashioned Power Point, why not allow students to use a web tool to display their knowledge of the food chain? Better yet, instead of writing a paper about the Holocaust, why not allow students to complete Character Sketches through the use of a Blog to role play and interact with classmates?

You see, the more educators try to stay the same, the more students push back. Aren't we the content experts - don't we already know the answers? At some point, we need to teach students how to UNLEARN what they have already LEARNED about learning. Allow students to choose their vehicle of learning. Allow students to choose how to get to the destination. Allow students to fail and challenge our own thinking. Only then can we be the expert that helps guide them along the way and back on the right path when they are wrong. In doing so so, we can help students better develop critical thinking, problem solving, and analyzing skills.

If only we all taught like Pirates, as Dave Burgess would say. We need to teach with Passion, Immerse ourselves in our subjects, build Rapport with our students, Ask/Analyze our current practices, Transform our classroom practices, and be Enthusiastic.

Will you let your students drive the ship matey? Aaargghh

Preparing Students for Success

Odds are you have already flipped a lesson for your class, but you never realized you did. Let's start by asking the following question - have you ever asked students to complete a reading passage outside of class? If so, you've already laid the foundation to flip that lesson. Now all you need is to structure the in-class activity to support your reading assignment. The power of flipping can now bring your class activities and discussion to life!

Flipping a lesson or classroom does not need to be a difficult or tedious process. All 'flippers' have the same goal - create a student-centered learning environment that promotes collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and reflection. Many high school teachers and higher-ed instructors struggle to find time to accomplish all these tasks in a 'traditional' classroom setting. Many proponents of the flipped classroom point to these very attributes as reasons to consider flipping your classroom.

The best advice I can offer would be the following:
1) Start Small! You don't need to flip an entire class. Look for "flippable moments" as Dr. Barbi Honeycutt states. Look for confusion in students where you might need to spend more class time discussing. Look for fundamentals that can be taught through a video and practice can be done during face-to-face class time. Look for boredom in students and creating authentic learning experiences in your classroom to keep them coming back for more.

2) Plan BACKWARDS! Identify an in-class activity you have never had enough time to conquer or one that you really want students to take a lot from. Plan that activity first, and then ask how you can provide pre-class material to the students. This pre-class material is any necessary information the student will need to be successful during the activity. Provide them a short video lecture, reading passage, or exploratory cues. Always keep the in-class activity in mind as you provide them information they will need.

3) Integrate moments of reflection. Allowing students time to process and reflect on what was learned is a vital tool for the instructor. This allows instructors an opportunity to identify struggling students and correct any misconceptions immediately. Likewise, it provides pertinent feedback about the activity and how it might be changed in the future. Activities like "Think, Pair, Share", "Think, Write, Share", "Writing Prompts", "Exit Tickets", or "SWOT Analysis" (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) are great activities that encourage student feedback and reflection.

Too many students walk out of high school or college lacking applicable job skills that are required to be successful. I truly believe that the flipped classroom helps address those abilities and provides students an opportunity to be successful. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and off your 'stage'. You might actually like the noise of others for a change.