New Trend In Classroom Instruction

Some teachers in Fayetteville and other districts are using a new model called flipped instruction. They said it helps students keep up with classroom work and provides more time for concentrated work exercises in the classroom.

Flipped instruction, or a flipped classroom, is the reverse of the traditional classroom of teachers lecturing and students listening. Class lectures are recorded for student viewing outside class, and class time is spent working on problems associated with the lecture. Basically, students are doing the homework in the classroom.

“It allows me to help the kids who really need the help the most, one on one,” said Bryan Hale, a ninth-grade algebra teacher at Ramay Junior High School.

In Hale’s class, a student who is stuck on an algebra problem can watch a video about how to work the problem and can view it multiple times.

“It’s more unique, individualized education,” he said.

Hale was working last week at a table with three students while others watched video lessons on domains and ranges.

Monica Torres, 15, watched the lesson at home the night before on her iPod. She said the preview made it easier to work with Hale on the graphing assignment that goes with the video lecture.

At the next table, DaShundra Morgan, 15, was following the video to draw the graph on the paper.

“I don’t look at the videos at home,” she said. “I have other responsibilities.”

Instead, she watches them in the classroom and collaborates with students seated at her table.

“This is an easier way to learn than listening to a lecture,” she said.

Jene Edwards, 14, was watching the same lesson. When she got stumped, she turned to Morgan for assistance.

“I’m more of a visual learner,” she said, noting she prefers a live lecture rather than the video format.

Students in Hale’s class were divided between preferring video lessons or live lectures.

Sam Jones, 14, seemed to sum up what teachers were saying, “You can go at your own pace.”

Collaboration among students, such as that between Morgan and Edwards, is a major component of the Common Core State Standards being introduced in Arkansas classrooms up to the eighth grade this year.

“This is not a pure flip,” said Maridith Gebhart, who teaches eighth-grade math. Student access to the Internet or a digital player prevent using flip instruction all the time.

“Not all students have access. Not every kid has the same environment,” Gebhart said. “It’s a huge issue.”

In Hale’s class, the students access the short video lessons posted on the school district’s website on laptop computers. In Gebhart’s classroom, the students use iPads.

“Students are literally working on all different levels,” Gebhart said. “We’re trying to get them to do things that are hard and that they don’t want to do.”

Grades come from the students’ performance on periodic assessments rather than on their class work, she said.

The question for teachers is whether this type of instruction is helping students learn.

“We wouldn’t move forward if they weren’t learning,” Gebhart said.

“I like to think it’s working,” Hale said, noting students in his class are challenged to do projects, which account for a portion of their grade. Project based learning is a basic component of the Common Core standards.

Vic Dreier, who teaches pre-engineering and technical education courses at Ramay, said recorded classroom lectures also are a good way to make up work if a student is absent.

The issue of access is resolved at Ramay because Dreier’s classroom with at least 20 computers and other digital equipment becomes an open lab for all students before and after school and during lunch periods.

“A lot of students do take advantage of the open lab time,” Dreier said. “Quite a few are without access at home.”

Teachers in other school districts also use the flipped classroom model on a limited basis.

In Bentonville, teachers use the flipped model in various situations, but not full time, said Mary Ley, executive director for communication, public relations and community partnerships.

“We have several folks who are skilled at doing online delivery and podcasts and using classroom time for project based learning,” Ley said.

Allison Byford, instruction technology coordinator in the Springdale School Distinct, said flipped classrooms or the use of the flipped techniques are in the infancy stage there.

Teachers can record lectures fairly easily with screen-casting software and a microphone, Byford said.

Time is the largest expense in flipping a classroom, and teachers need to be unafraid of technology, she said.

Luke Adams, a teacher at the Agee-Lierly Life Preparation Services center, a division of Fayetteville High School, said a teacher needs to have working knowledge on recording videos and posting them online.

“To me, it doesn’t seem hard, but it is time-consuming. For some, it’s totally foreign,” Adams said. “But then, a chalkboard is foreign to me.”

It’s not much different than an English teacher assigning a book to read outside of class and using class time to discuss the book, Adams said.

He is using flipped class techniques in three of his world history classes in which students are preparing History Day projects. As part of that project development, Adams recorded a lesson on building an annotated bibliography so the students know how to do one for their history project.

“It gets the kids who missed caught up,” Adams said. Reteaching material is a big issue in Adams’ classroom because the alternative education center has a high rate of absenteeism.

Adams sees the flipped classroom as more beneficial, particular because students are bombarded with technology. They also receive instant gratification from using technology to learn more on a topic.

“They can see the lesson at home and come to class ready to create something,” he said. “It’s beneficial.”