Flipped Learning, a Book Review Replay
As the spring semester comes to a close and we start looking ahead to the 2018-19 academic year, it seemed like a good time to do a replay of this book review on Flipped Learning.
This book review comes from Melissa Pittard, PhD, of the University of Kentucky. She is a lecturer in the College of Arts and Sciences with a research interest in statistical education. It was originally posted in the Fall 2017 TSHS Newsletter.
Title: Flipped Learning: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty Authors: Robert Talbert and Jon Bergmann Publisher: Stylus Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1620364321 Formats: Cloth, Paperback, E-Book Amazon Link
My first introduction to flipped learning was through a colleague of mine at the University of Kentucky. He was designing a new general education course in statistics centered around the notion that students should be more actively involved in their learning, both inside and outside the classroom. My first semester at UK was a “learning by immersion” time where I, along with several other colleagues, were teaching this new flipped or inverted course to hundreds of students in large lectures. As I sought to educate myself in flipped or inverted learning, I ran across Dr. Talbert’s column Casting Out Nines several years ago, and just recently, this book.
Flipped Learning: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty, is organized in three main parts: part 1 is the definition and history of flipped learning, along with models; part 2 addresses flipped learning design, and part 3 describes teaching and learning in a flipped learning environment. Each part is thorough and well thought out. Each part describes in detail what flipped learning is (and is not), explains the research behind it, gives examples on how it is implemented across several disciplines, and how to implement the pedogeological approach into your classroom.
Flipped learning is defined by the author (this definition seems to be widely accepted) as “a pedogeological approach in which first contact with new concepts is in the individual space (outside of class) in the form of a structured activity, and the resulting group space (classroom) is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.” Flipping does not mean that students only watch videos in the individual space and then come to class. Reading articles, a textbook chapter, listening to a podcast would be appropriate individual study as well. The key is that the assignments in the individual space also include guided practice for the students to complete before coming to class.
The author discusses six case studies of flipped learning in several disciplines taught by different instructors at several colleges and universities in part 1, which helps the reader see the different contexts and ways that different instructors flipped their classrooms. In part two, he lays out an effective approach to designing a course in this manner. The author is thoughtful and detailed in the steps needed in a flipped course design.
Finally, in part 3, the author addresses applying flipped learning to online and hybrid courses, “partial flipping”, and flipping in a low-tech setting. He also addresses several common issues that students have with flipped learning. The author supports his claims well with history, research, and cases studies (from his courses and others). In addition, the detail that he provides in designing a flipped course removes ambiguity and guesswork. This book is an excellent resource for those interested, curious, or even skeptical about flipped learning.