The Flipped Classroom in Theory
After all the excitement around the flipped classroom approach, I was curious to see if this model has been applied to an undergraduate baccalaureate nursing program. A quick lit review turned up an article written by Maura Schlairet, Rebecca Green and Melissa Benton (2014). In this article, they champion the flipped classroom model stating that is will help students develop "...the characteristics necessary for successful lifelong learning." (2014, p. 324) That sounded pretty great! Who wouldn't want that for their students? They also casually mention at the end of the article a few minor requirements for a successful flipped classroom (2014):
1) Institutional administrative support
2) Academic freedom
3) In-house dedicated IT specialists to create all of the PowerPoint presentations and
voiceovers (because faculty need to focus on the content and concepts of course!)
voiceovers (because faculty need to focus on the content and concepts of course!)
In the budget-conscious environment where I work (and where most instructors work!) , these requirements are tantamount to a fairy tale. So I did what any first-time instructor would do: I created my own flipped classroom.
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| The before picture |
The Hard Sell
When I transitioned from clinical teaching to teaching in a classroom, I was surprised to discover that I would have to create all of my own PowerPoint presentations and classroom activities. For some strange reason, I had assumed that these resources materialized out of thin air. It didn't occur to me that I would have to create them myself! The course I was teaching was brand new and I was starting from scratch. From what I was hearing, this flipped classroom sounded pretty nifty so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to test this theory out. Just to reiterate: I was a brand-new teacher with no recent classroom experience. The last time I taught in front of a classroom was 11 years ago in the Peoples' Republic of China and my lessons consisted of modified versions of Jeopardy.
For my first class I went easy on the students. I performed my "sage on the stage" technique to thunderous applause (in my head) and mentioned that my next lecture will be posted on Desire2Learn. One tentative hand went up. "Does that mean we don't have to come to class next week?" I wasn't expecting that question. I explained with all the enthusiasm I could muster that next weeks content will be online so we can use the classroom time for activities like case studies. This seemed reasonable to my student and I thought nothing more of it.
The Role of an Adult Educator
I had a week to prep my class and I had assumed this was plenty of time. This is when I discovered I had no idea what I was doing. I learned quickly that the role of an adult educator was expansive. Not only did I need to be an expert in my field of instruction, I needed to disseminate a massive amount of content and somehow make it interesting. On top of that, I needed to master PowerPoint and figure out how to record my lecture so I could post it for the students in time. This was no small feat. By some miracle (and an obscene amount of coffee), I had my lecture recorded and uploaded to D2L just in time for the weekend. This gave my students plenty of time to watch my lecture and come prepared for my activity-filled class on Monday. Then I realized I didn't have any activities for my flipped class. It was going to be a long weekend.
The Flipped Classroom in Practice
By the time Monday rolled around, I was actually excited to try out this flipped classroom everyone was talking about! I felt confident and prepared with all of the learning activities I had planned for that class. I had a practice quiz typed up for my pre-test, I had written up complex case studies and I had even devised an ethical dilemma debate around some challenging issues. When I arrived at the classroom, the 42 students that had attended the first lecture had dwindled down to seven. I was heartbroken. Apparently, I wasn't as clear as I thought I was when I explained how the application class was going to go. The students felt like the online lecture was good enough so they didn't see the point of coming to class. I neglected to explore one minor detail: What the students wanted. The students, as it turns out absolutely hated group work and preferred to work on case studies independently as homework. The appreciated the lecture format because it allowed them to ask questions as the lesson progressed and clarify any areas of confusion as they arose.
My flipped classroom experiment was a failure in so many ways but I am grateful for the experience. I have learned what I really need is a balance between classic lecture formats and participatory learning activities. I may try a flipped classroom again but it will be after I gain some more teaching experience. And if, as Schlairet and Green (2014) suggest, I have my own IT specialists to create all of my lectures for me!
Schlairet, M. C.,
Green, R., & Benton, M. J. (2014). The flipped classroom:
Strategies for an undergraduate nursing course. Nurse Educator, 39(6), 321-325.
doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000096
