The Flipped Classroom

What is a flipped classroom?

Many people may ask themselves this question if they are unfamiliar with this term. It’s definitely not a classroom with all the furniture flipped around and turned upside down. This week in my Math 371 class, Technology for STEM Educators, we discussed the idea of a flipped classroom and its benefits and drawbacks.

A flipped classroom is a teaching method that reverses the typical classroom mold. In a flipped classroom, students watch lecture videos and take notes at home, and during class time students work together to apply the material, ask questions, and get immediate feedback from the teacher. Some overall benefits are students can learn at their own pace, students can pause and rewatch the lecture, and it’s a great alternative for when students are absent. Another big advantage, especially in the math classroom, is that parents have access to lecture videos to help their children based on that. Some drawbacks are that students have to be independent and find time outside of class, it promotes extra screen time, and some students may not have access to the internet at home.

In high school, I had experience with a flipped classroom in the math setting. My high school geometry class was the flipped classroom method. In my opinion, I found it very beneficial. Every day before class we would have a video to watch on Edpuzzle. The teacher also provided us with guided notes so that we could follow along. During the video, we would have to answer questions to make sure we were paying attention. Then during class, we would have worksheets or group activities that applied the content from the video. The teacher was able to walk around and help everyone. She was able to provide direct feedback right away to students who were struggling. I enjoyed the flipped classroom method because I could work at my own pace. In math, in high school, I was always working ahead so this allowed me to do this without getting into trouble.

As a future math teacher, this method of teaching is something I will take into consideration. It has its clear advantages and disadvantages. One of my main goals that I have as a “teacher in training” is that I want my future students to not only understand the material I am teaching them but to be able to apply it as well. The flipped classroom method is a great teaching method to help students apply the information. I believe this is something I would like to try in my future classroom after a few years of teaching. I would love to use it some days and have the traditional method the other days of the week. The flipped method can be used as a good switch-up then a traditional lecture every day. When implementing the flipped classroom method in my future classroom, I understand that most students will try to skip the video and come unprepared to class. To prevent this, I will assign the videos for points, and along with what I did in high school, students will have guided notes and will have to answer questions within the video.

While the flipped classroom has many benefits, it also has disadvantages, and it’s important to be mindful of that if you want to implement it in your classroom. The flipped classroom can be one way for students to foster a deeper understanding of the material and get help from the teacher right away.

Madyson Stricherz