Flipped Classroom
Method & Rationale
A differentiated teaching approach where the delivering of the instructional content happens beforehand (as homework via a you Tube clip or similar) outside of the classroom. During class time, related exercises and class work are completed.
Description
As a homework exercise, students have to watch a clip on YouTube, explaining the subject you want them to learn. If necessary, the student watches it more than once.
During the follow up class, students can ask questions they have as a result of watching the video. These can be discussed with the other students.
Then all pupils start working on specific exercises which require knowledge of the theory they learned in the clip. The teacher has the time to walk around in the classroom, helping out those who have problems. If necessary, students can watch the clip again, or the teacher can explain the subject for a small group of students.
Students Outcomes
- Expand your knowledge on a particular topic
- Work as an individual on problem solving exercises
- Work at your own level
- Engage in peer learning through discussion.
Key Skills
- Follow Instructions
- Problem Solving
- Working alone
- Working together
- Active Listening
Viszualization
Phase 1: teacher prepares or looks for a clip to explain the topic

Phase 2: students watch the video to prepare themselves and prepare questions, if they do not understand something

Phase 3: students ask questions in the following lesson and discuss the topic

Phase 4: students work on specific exercises (either alone or in groups)

Evaluation
Used in following lessons:
Country
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Number of teachers
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Number of pupils
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Aged
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Topic
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Austria
|
4
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77
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14-18
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Standard SW, Accounting, Programming
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Belgium
|
1
|
17
|
17-19
|
Programming
|
Spain
|
2
|
30
|
15-16
|
Ethics, Spanish
|
Ireland
|
2
|
50
|
15-16
|
History, Geography
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Sweden
|
3
|
68
|
12-16
|
German, Mathematics
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Results of evaluation of students:
The experiences with flipped classroom are very different. Sometimes students really like to work on a new topic themselves, sometimes not. If they are allowed to do their own research in school (not as a homework) they are very much more motivated and results are good. Younger students are more motivated than older ones. In general, they feel good if they have a challenging task, but nor an overwhelming one. Students often felt overwhelmed if they got too less information (e.g. only a topic title and no source list)
Sometimes, students just want the teacher to explain the subject to them. Especially when the clips have to be looked at as a homework, students don’t like it.
For students it is interesting to be prepared for the lesson, you already know the content. It is also good to hear explanations from different persons, not just the teacher.
So, flipped classroom is an interesting method to use every now and then.
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Results of evaluation of teachers:
Method was easy to explain to the students.
The method really enables students to follow an individualized path towards the goals set by the teacher.
Pupils can work at home at their own pace.
Experiences have been very different. Some students really liked this method, for example when they like to work practically. In this case, the results have been excellent, topics have been understood very fast. Students helped each other if they had problems.
The older students – especially programming – have not been able to find good sources themselves, so they could not really solve the assignments. Flipped classroom has to be used from the beginning and has to be trained, also some skills have to be trained before using flipped classroom, e.g. internet research.
When not all pupils watched the video at home, they could still watch it in class during the lesson and were able to work on their exercises.
The time of preparation was different, depending on the given information. If there was only a title and a short description – preparation time was short, if they have had a complete source list or a video or a prepared text, preparation time was long.
Evaluation was done by tests, homework or tasks.
For the teacher it is time consuming to create material or to watch content created by others to be able to know if it is of good/high quality.
The method is very interesting when combined with a Symbaloo. Students can then also share the video’s they find with their peers.
When students don’t have access to a computer or Internet at home, the method can’t be used.
Motivation of the students and given information are the biggest influence size of the results.
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