Week 4: Flip or Flop?

For a traditionalist like myself, the idea of putting a student in control of the classroom is, in many ways, an illogical idea. For students to learn they must be taught. Yet, how can students learn when the teacher becomes merely a guide. When I first started reading about flipped classrooms, I was skeptical; but as I began to delve into the research behind flipped learning, I saw there was actual evidence backing up this model of instruction. Put simply, there are not enough hours in the school day for many students to fit in the required classwork needed to succeed. Whether it is because of sports or other activities, students often do not receive the required instruction time they need. This circumstance is what compelled two Colorado chemistry teachers to attempt to use this revolutionary model of learning.

These two discovered that in this setting the teacher does not deliver content but instead acts more as a guide, which leads to greater interaction between students and the teacher as well as one another.
While I do believe that the idea of a flipped classroom, has merit, I am, as always, reluctant to throw full support behind a relatively new idea. I do not, however, believe, there is any “silver bullet” method for teaching students. As a tool, I believe it can be very useful. In fact, after studying the flipped classroom, what struck me most about it was how similar it seemed to my own college education. Content is read outside of class while class time is reserved for interaction with the teacher and fellow students. This, I believe, is the setting in which the greatest amount of learning can occur. In fact, it is the environment in which critical skills, in particular are honed. So while I do not think that the flipped classroom model will become the standard classroom setting, I do believe that teachers can use it as an effective tool for educating and engaging their students.