'So I rewinded my teacher many times'

‘SO I REWINDED MY TEACHER MANY TIMES’- FLIPPED CLASSROOM IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

M. Loizou Raouna¹, K. Lee²

¹ Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture (CYPRUS)
² Lancaster University (UNITED KINGDOM)

mariaraouna@gmail.com, k.lee23@lancaster.ac.uk

Abstract

In this article, we present the outcomes of an empirical study on the experiences and perceptions of young students upon the implementation of a flipped classroom (FC) model across primary education context in Cyprus. The research primarily aimed to address a lack of research effort and a limited academic knowledge concerning the effectiveness of the FC model in elementary education context by closely following and observing students' experiences in different phases of the model (i.e., pre-class, in-class and after-class phase). The proposed FC model in this study includes three different learning and design phases: each comes with a set of instructional tools and guidelines for teachers to support their classroom design and management. During the pre-class phase, students explore the learning content provided by the teacher at home and obtain an entrance ticket (one of the instructional tools developed in this study). During class time, students participate in a series of inquiry-based classroom activities, which require them to be creative and collaborative. Forums and other features of the online learning platform are utilized so as to also promote networked learning experiences through student-to-student collaboration and communication. The after-class phase involves self-assessment procedures and the completion of an e-portfolio page. The sample of the research included five experienced primary school teachers in five different schools in Cyprus who have implemented the model in at least three learning subjects in different grades throughout a whole school year. There was a total of 80 students participating in the research (and their parents). The main data collection methods included classroom investigations, student focus groups, teacher and parent interviews. The data analysis in NVivo gave rise to the following themes: flips, entrance tickets, in-class activities, teacher, digital tools and orchestration routines. The results suggested that most students perceived the learning experiences very positive in the FC context- particularly positive about their experiences in the pre-class phase. Examples of various student quotes, such as “Rewinding my teacher was great?” and “So the flip was amazing”, evidence successful implementation from the perspective of the students despite several reported challenges (e.g., poor connectivity in class and laziness of students to watch the flips). The main contribution of this research is the orchestration routines developed through the lense of the students’ experiences and perspectives which can themselves provide the framework of a study which would primarily focus on exploring and developing effective FC models in primary education. 

Keywords: Flipped learning, flipped classroom, flips, entrance tickets, primary education, blended learning.

Full Article here: 

Loizou-Raouna, M. & Lee, K. (2018). ‘So I rewinded my teacher many times’: Flipped Classroom in Primary Education. 11th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, 4984-4993. doi: 10.21125/iceri.2018.0213.

The IB-FC Practical Guide

Research results have given rise to the IB-FC Practical Guide 

This includes guidelines in how primary school teachers can implement an IB-FC model step-by-step!

Why become a member?

The Cyprus Flipped Classroom Initiative sets off with a PhD research in exploring and establishing the basic universal principals for the IB-FC model (Inquiry-Based learning for a Flipped Classroom model) in elementary education in Cyprus. This research has been designed for testing the implementation of the model by 10 elementary teachers in ten different schools in Cyprus. These schools will have a common space to work in http://www.protyposxoleio.com which is a Moodle platform designed specifically for this research.

Please do feel free to join this community of innovative teachers, read their reflections, share your thoughts and concerns as well as your personal experience in implementing such a model in your own classroom.

The IB-FC model- Brief Description

Flipping a class usually involves students reading or watching videos before class. IBL focuses on allowing and encouraging students to develop material on their own. ‘Both styles emphasize active learning and critical thinking through activities such as group work and presentations while minimizing lectures’ (Capaldi, 2015, p.736). The two teaching styles/models can complement one another in many ways and be implemented concurrently (Gorman, 2013). This is what this research aims at, exploiting the benefits and minimizing the drawbacks of the two models, developing IB-FC instructional designs/learning cycles, recognizing the varying positive effects of combining the two models (IB-FC model) (Jong, 2017).

Figure 1 illustrates how in a typical day both models share in principle the same list of activities, differentiating in the pre-class activity and its assessment. Variations between group and individual work exist. However, compared to a traditional 90–95% lecture class course, both models are inherently active allowing increased group learning time to try and develop higher-order thinking skills.

Figure 1: FC model vs IBL model's activities

Two key features of the combination of the FC model and the IBL model are engagement and conceptual understanding. Students need to be engaged with material and not passively listen to it. In the FC model students are supposed to view flips and all assigned material before in-class time whilst if IBL model methods are used during in-class time more leading questions will be used on the material covered at home compared to giving direct answers, leading to group discussions (Lo & Hew, 2017). The purpose of engaging with content is to gain deep conceptual understanding. Research shows that this is not gained through lectures (Epstein, 2013). This goal is one of the simple reasons that FC and IBL approaches go so well together in many disciples (Hung, 2014). 

   

When combining flipped pedagogy with IBL, most of class time should be spent on group work and presentations. These activities can involve problems from the pre-class reading or video, or new problems first seen in class (Capaldi, 2015; Pierce & Fox, 2012). One method of incorporating IBL into the FC is for students to solve harder examples using new strategies not seen in the reading or video. Working through difficult questions often generates a rich discussion within groups.

While IBL and the FC are both newer innovations in teaching, a partnership of the two is proposed in this research to increase student engagement and learning. Past research on teaching a hybrid flipped/IBL class in Maths (Capaldi, 2015), STEM courses (Love et al., 2015) or even in pharmacotherapy modules (Pierce & Fox, 2012) in Higher Education showed that the combination had been successful as they are natural partners. Aidinopoulou and Sampson’s (2017) research on the FC model in a Greek primary school concentrated on history teaching and revealed that indeed, the classroom based sessions of the experimental group were used for engaging student-centered activities and that this resulted into better learning outcomes in terms of demonstrating critical thinking skills. Therefore, IBL is a perfect instructional practice to use for the freed-up time arising from FC implementation (Love et al., 2015). Encouraging collaboration and the communication of new knowledge learned from flips between learners features injecting IBL into FC and vice verca and in increasing confidence and helping students to learn how to learn creating lifelong learners.

Identifying a lack of theoretical underpinning for FC model pedagogical design and in an attempt to find ways to keep students engaged and how to instill deep content knowledge, the theoretical framework of this research will be a combination of the FC model and the IBL model, called IB-FC model-draft version (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Research theoretical framework: The IB-FC model (initial draft version) 

In Figure 2, the main principles of an IBL model arising from literature (explore/conjecture, discover/investigate, collaborate/communicate, knowledge building) are incorporated within a FC model, which distinguishes between in-class and out of class activities, giving rise to a draft version of the IB-FC model framework, the theoretical framework of the research. This draft version will be revised as the research proceeds.