A flipped classroom consists of a flipping of the teaching styles that a considerable majority of Americans have experienced, both as students and as teachers. Instead of lecturing and generally aiming towards the average of the class of students in front of them, teachers instead provide personalized lessons and guidance and more of an opportunity for students to learn from each other.
Class Time is Now Spent Analyzing
Probably the biggest adjustment from traditional classrooms is the ability to have the students learn the material beforehand, not during lectures or similar activities that needlessly take up valuable classroom time. Many believe that it makes little sense to spend a considerable amount of time lecturing to a classroom when that information could be imparted outside of class time. As a result, classroom time can instead be spent discussing that material in much greater depth.
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Students Can Learn at Their Own Pace
A flipped classroom also provides much greater opportunities for students to learn at their own pace. This allows all of the students to avoid boredom and frustration by either learning the material much more quickly or slowly than their peers. This style also provides teachers with more opportunities to provide one-on-one instruction to students that focuses on things that they found challenging. Other examples of being able to learn at their own pace include the opportunities to do things like replaying a confusing lecture and not missing any material when sickness or some other interruption precludes them from attending school for a period of time. Any teacher absences will also not be as much of an impact on learning as they are in a traditional classroom setting.
More Time Can Be Spent Considering Follow-Up Questions
When a lecture or similar teaching method is used, oftentimes, students are unable to completely understand what they observed and what made little sense to them until they have had time to think about it. However, in a flipped classroom, they can take their time to brainstorm questions to help them more fully understand what they learned or possibly even spark a group or class discussion on the subject matter.
Collaborating With Other Students
Many teachers have said that they have learned more from their students than they believe they have taught them. Well, it’s not fair that only instructors get to receive that benefit as other students can learn just as much from their peers, and this opportunity is much more greatly realized when flipped classrooms are used. Understanding how the material relates to fellow students and how they might have interpreted something differently than how others had can prove to be vital learning experiences.
On Average, Students Perform Better
This is perhaps the most important benefit of a flipped classroom. For example, Clintondale High School, which is located 20 miles north of Detroit, recently flipped as an entire school, becoming the first American school to make that significant of a change. It started there in 2010 with one flipped class taught by a social studies teacher, and several students who were in that class and who had failed it previously, some on multiple occasions, all earned at least a C+, decreasing a previous failure rate of 13 percent down to zero. A traditional class that was otherwise identical and that had been taught at the same time resulted in no change in achievement levels.
However, do note that it is very important to have the in-class focus on interactions between teachers and students and between students and their peers as that is a very important step in this process. It is what separates flipped classrooms from online-only courses.