Teaching and learning in the inverted classroom

Lindsey Wilson College faculty workshop
14 August 2013
Facilitator: Robert Talbert, PhD, Grand Valley State University
TEACHING AND LEARNING
IN THE INVERTED CLASSROOM
Tuesday, August 13, 13

Preliminaries

Preliminaries
Robert Talbert, PhD.

Preliminaries
Associate Professor, Mathematics Department,
Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI

Preliminaries
Liberal arts college guy at big university

Preliminaries
Dad, nerd, runner, learner

Preliminaries
talbertr@gvsu.edu | http://proftalbert.com
Twitter: @RobertTalbert
Casting Out Nines blog: http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/
castingoutnines

Preliminaries
See proftalbert.com/consulting/lindsey-wilson-college
for links to materials later
Twitter backchannel: Use hashtag #lwcflip
talbertr@gvsu.edu | http://proftalbert.com
Twitter: @RobertTalbert
Casting Out Nines blog: http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/
castingoutnines

Part 1:
What is the inverted
classroom?
(9:00-10:15)

Part 1:
classroom?
(9:00-10:15)
Part 2:
Inverted classroom
design project
(10:30-12:00)

Part 1:
classroom?
(9:00-10:15)
Part 2:
Inverted classroom
design project
(10:30-12:00)
Part 3:
Show and tell
(1:00-2:00)

Part 1:
classroom?
(9:00-10:15)
Part 2:
Inverted classroom
design project
(10:30-12:00)
Part 3:
Show and tell
(1:00-2:00)
Part 4:
Odds and ends +
Open Q&A
(2:15-3:15)

Goals for today

Goals for today
Articulate basic elements and design
philosophy of the inverted/flipped classroom

Goals for today
Give one class session an inverted makeover

Goals for today
Develop a plan for flipping all/part of a class if
interested in going farther

Goals for today
Start a sustained conversation about learning
and teaching in general
Develop a plan for flipping all/part of a class if
interested in going farther

What we will NOT do today

Listen to 6-hour sales pitch

Make a commitment to flip a class

Make a commitment to flip a class
Answer every question you have

Questions for this year, regardless of the
flipped classroom

How can I predicate my teaching on student abilities
rather than perceived student inabilities?
flipped classroom

How can I focus more on learning and less on teaching?
flipped classroom

How can I focus more on students and less on myself?
flipped classroom

How can I focus more on students and less on myself?
How can I actually teach lifelong learning and liberal
education in a real and relevant way?
flipped classroom

Think/pair/share

Think/pair/share
The inverted or flipped classroom is...

Think/pair/share
The inverted or flipped classroom is...
Flipping a class (whole course, single unit, etc.)
involves...

Operational definition
The flipped or inverted classroom is a course
design model in which information transfer
takes place outside the class meetings and
assimilation of information takes place inside
the class meeting.

The traditional classroom
and
its two big problems

Problem #1 with the traditional classroom

In class{

Out of class
{
In class{

Out of class
{
In class{
More difficulty
Less difficulty

Out of class
{
In class{
More difficulty
Less difficulty
Less help
More help

Clear lecture during class End of class: “I understand”

Next class/office hours:
When I see you do it, it makes sense. But when I sit down
and try it, I don’t even know where to start.
What’s missing?
Clear lecture during class End of class: “I understand”

What the inverted/flipped class model does

Out of
class {

In class
{
Out of
class {

In class
{
Out of
class {
More difficulty
Less difficulty

In class
{
Out of
class {
More difficulty
Less difficulty
More help
Less help

What the inverted/flipped classroom also does

Clear lecture before class

Active, challenging work during class

Active, challenging work during class
End of class: Measurable
understanding

The flipped/inverted classroom emphasizes
self-regulated learning
1.Learners are active participants in the learning process
2.Learners can monitor and regulate their learning
behaviors and some of their environments
3.Learners have a standard against which they can
compare their learning and make decisions about learning
4.Activities mediate between personal characteristics
and actual achievement
The Self Regulated Learning framework (Pintrich, 2004):
(More research references on SRL at the website)

Is the flipped classroom just another term for a
seminar/studio/lab course?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnedermeijer/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/

The difference: Intentionality
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnedermeijer/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnedermeijer/
Out of class work
intentionally aimed at
improving learning skills
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnedermeijer/
Out of class work
intentionally aimed at
improving learning skills
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/
In class work
intentionally aimed away from
information transfer

Case Studies:
CMP 150: Computer Tools for Problem Solving (Franklin College)
MTH 210: Communicating in Mathematics (GVSU)
MTH 201: Calculus (GVSU, in progress)
Other disciplines where the flipped classroom is being used:
Biology
Classics
Economics
Engineering
Physics
Statistics
Probably a lot of non-STEM disciplines
Links to research and reports at the website

CMP 150: Computer Tools for Problem Solving
One-credit intro to MATLAB programming for math majors
One 75-minute meeting per week
Content dictated by partner university
Students mostly math education majors, first-generation college
students with little tech experience

Key elements in creating a flipped classroom

Design the out-of-class experience

Get students to actually do the out-of-class
experience

experience
Design the in-class experience

experience
Design the in-class experience
Design assessments that give accurate info on
student mastery

The out-of-class experience: Guided Practice

1

1
2

3
4
The Guided Practice
assignment not only
preps students for
class work but builds
self-regulated
learning skills.

The in-class experience: Accountability
(A) 0
(B) 4
(C) 10
(D) 17
(E) An error message occurs
sum = 0;
for i = 2:1:10
if isprime(i)
sum = sum + 1;
end
end
What is the value of sum
after running the code on
the left?
Reminder: ISPRIME(n) is 1 if
n is a prime number and 0
otherwise.
Prime numbers less than 20:
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19.

The in-class experience: Challenging class work
This would be a take-home assignment in a
traditional class

How it turned out: The good
Students improved in their perceived self-efficacy
“What was the most important thing you learned in CMP 150?”
How to solve a problem by writing an algorithm and
how to think about a problem logically.
Being able to use the help in MATLAB effectively. I
never used the help section in a program before.
I learned that discovering things on my own is generally
more beneficial than having things spelled out.
Students did excellent work in class and received
praise from partner university profs later.

How it turned out: The challenges

First offering (2010): Struggles with procrastination,
video quality, work expectations, division of labor,
nature of college in the first place

Second offering (2011): Procrastination ameliorated
by rolling deadlines; still struggle with absence of
lecture, concept of out-of-class work

Second offering (2011): Procrastination ameliorated
by rolling deadlines; still struggle with absence of
lecture, concept of out-of-class work
Subsequent offerings: Students didn’t see relevance
of out-of-class work; didn’t understand purpose of
the course; felt like it was an online course

MTH 210: Communicating in Mathematics
Three-credit “transition to proof” course for math majors
Prerequisite: Calculus 2
Three 50-minute meetings per week
Satisfies “Supplemental Writing Skills” requirement through Portfolio
Prerequisite for nearly all upper-level courses

MTH 210: Communicating in Mathematics
Three-credit “transition to proof” course for math majors
Prerequisite: Calculus 2
Three 50-minute meetings per week
Satisfies “Supplemental Writing Skills” requirement through Portfolio
Prerequisite for nearly all upper-level courses
23.2%%
33.1%%
17.5%%
26.3%%
A% B% C% D/F/W%
Grade distributions 2007-2012 (n = 937)

Aspects of inverted classroom already in place
Textbook by Ted Sundstrom
https://sites.google.com/site/
mathematicalreasoning3ed/
Features Preview Activities, intended
to be read/worked on prior to class

Aspects of inverted classroom already in place
Textbook by Ted Sundstrom
https://sites.google.com/site/
mathematicalreasoning3ed/
Features Preview Activities, intended
to be read/worked on prior to class
Switch to “completely inverted” format needs to address:
Self-regulated learning
“Sociomathematical norms”
Lowering cognitive load outside of class
Free up as much time as possible for in-class work

MTH 210 playlist at http://youtube.com/GVSUmath

View full Guided Practice assignment

The in-class experience: Accountability
Question 3
If A and B are sets with A = B, it means that
(a) A ✓ B
(b) B ✓ A
(c) A B = 0 (the number zero)
(d) All of the above
(e) Both (a) and (b)
MTH 210 §5.1 Quiz

The in-class experience: Problem of the Day
Prof. Talbert MTH 210: Communicating in Mathematics October 19, 2012
Class Work: Proving Set Relationships
This is a full-time activity worth 10 points.
Problems of the Day
Give complete proofs for ALL of the statements below. Some of these are very short. You will
submit this proof in a formal writeup at the end of the class. For all of these statements, A and B
are sets that are subsets of some universal set U.
1. Prove BOTH of the following. They should be very short.
(a) Prove A B ✓ A.
(b) Prove A ✓ A [ B.
2. Prove ONE of the following. These are not as short.
(a) Prove that if A ✓ B, then A C ✓ B C.
(b) Prove that if A ✓ B, then A [ C ✓ B [ C.
3. Prove ONE of the following.
(a) Prove that the sets A B and A B are disjoint.
(b) Prove that A B = A Bc.
Parameters

Do you feel your experiences in MTH 210 have made you better able to
learn new content on your own?
12/16 “Yes”, 3/16 “No”, 1 not sure

12/16 “Yes”, 3/16 “No”, 1 not sure
I've always been apprehensive about trying to learn material on my own
because that is not how the school system is set-up. This course gives a
nice foundation about how to take the first steps of learning by
ourselves.

12/16 “Yes”, 3/16 “No”, 1 not sure
ourselves.
This course has taught me more how to problem solve on my own
because we did so much work outside of the classroom on our own... We
worked through the lecture on our own and it gave us the opportunity to
work through our problems first, without instantly being rescued. It was
frustrating at times but I guess overall I have benefited from it.

12/16 “Yes”, 3/16 “No”, 1 not sure
ourselves.
This course has taught me more how to problem solve on my own
because we did so much work outside of the classroom on our own... We
worked through the lecture on our own and it gave us the opportunity to
work through our problems first, without instantly being rescued. It was
frustrating at times but I guess overall I have benefited from it.
[This] wasn't just a computational math class. It has allowed me to
become a better logical thinker, which will definitely help in future
courses.

How have your attitudes and strategies about learning mathematics
have changed over the course of this semester?

I'm much more comfortable with not having a cookie cutter version to
solving a problem. This kind of thinking was hard to do at first but now I
feel more capable.

feel more capable.
I realize now how much more complex math is. This course is a different
type of math. It's not working with basic algebra. It's not learning
formulas and plugging things in. It's different. In the beginning, I thought
this course was going to be really really difficult but everything was dealt
in strides and everything was built off of other things we were learning,
which is what many math courses are.

feel more capable.
I realize now how much more complex math is. This course is a different
type of math. It's not working with basic algebra. It's not learning
formulas and plugging things in. It's different. In the beginning, I thought
this course was going to be really really difficult but everything was dealt
in strides and everything was built off of other things we were learning,
which is what many math courses are.
I think I have learned that when I can't figure something out, I need to
step back and try a different approach. Before I would only try one way
over and over and get upset when I couldn't get the right answer.

Figuring out how to manage class work

Coming to terms with roles of student, professor

“I didn’t get the help I needed”

“I wasn’t able to ask questions”

“He never taught, he just walked around”

“He never taught, he just walked around”
Otherwise we didn’t really encounter any issues with
students not attending class, not doing the Guided
Practice, failing to access technology, or having
issues with the course design philosophy.

What’s next: Inverting Calculus 1 (Fall 2013)

What I’ve learned about
flipping
or, Best Guesses at Best
Practices

1: The following workflow works

GIVEN:
Print/video resources for basic information
List of clearly-stated learning objectives
Exercises on basic skills

Viewing/reading for
basic information
Guided practice for
basic skills
Quiz
(to reinforce individual
mastery)
ASSIMILATION
PROBLEMS
Further problems/HW
On to the next topic
INTO THE CLASS MEETING
GIVEN:
Print/video resources for basic information
List of clearly-stated learning objectives
Exercises on basic skills

2: Careful enumeration of learning
objectives is essential
Ask: What should students be able to do ?
Higher complexity
Lower complexity

n. Most advanced objective
n-1. Next-to-most advanced
objective
2. Next-to-most basic
objective
1. Most basic objective
Higher complexity
Lower complexity

n. Most advanced objective
n-1. Next-to-most advanced
objective
2. Next-to-most basic
objective
1. Most basic objective
Higher complexity
Lower complexity
“Lowest advanced objective”
“Highest basic objective”
Students responsible for
these before class
Students master these
during and after class

3: Out-of-class experiences should be highly
structured with low-hanging fruit

The model of Guided Practice:

Overview

Overview
Double list of learning objectives

Overview
Resources (high quality, brief, aligned with learning
objectives)

Overview
objectives)
Exercises (aligned with learning objectives)

Overview
objectives)
Exercises (aligned with learning objectives)
Instructions

4: Students need multiple channels of support

5a: Accountability is necessary to get all students to
consistently do out-of-class work

5a: Accountability is necessary to get all students to
consistently do out-of-class work
5b: BUT, having 100% of students complete 100%
of work 100% of the time is unrealistic and probably
not even necessary (so don’t worry about it)

Vygotsky (1978)
(yet)
6: Students will engage with in-class work if it hits
them in their proximal zone

Vygotsky (1978)
(yet)
Basic learning objectives, attained
through Guided Practice

Vygotsky (1978)
(yet)
attained through
further practice
Advanced learning objectives
attained through Class Work

Vygotsky (1978)
(yet)
attained through
further practice
Advanced learning objectives
attained through Class Work
See also: concept of “flow” (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990)

7a: Prepare for pushback
Is this really going to be how much work you expect us to do for a 1 credit hour
class? If 3 hours a week out of class was the standard per credit hour, that means
that I would need to spend 36 hours every week on work NOT including classes?
That means that if I did work 7 days a week I would need to work over 5 hours
each day, not including classes/eating/working out/practices for people in sports.
Not to mention if there are any tests in the future that you have to study for.
Your idea of the workload for this class is ludicrous. ... What if students go home
and do not have access to the software because they don't want to waste $100
on basically a graphing calculator for your computer? That means you have to
come back to school JUST to do work for your 1 credit hour class? Thats absurd.
I really hope that you reevaluate your expectations for this class because they are
far too high.

7a: Prepare for pushback
Is this really going to be how much work you expect us to do for a 1 credit hour
class? If 3 hours a week out of class was the standard per credit hour, that means
that I would need to spend 36 hours every week on work NOT including classes?
That means that if I did work 7 days a week I would need to work over 5 hours
each day, not including classes/eating/working out/practices for people in sports.
Not to mention if there are any tests in the future that you have to study for.
Your idea of the workload for this class is ludicrous. ... What if students go home
and do not have access to the software because they don't want to waste $100
on basically a graphing calculator for your computer? That means you have to
come back to school JUST to do work for your 1 credit hour class? Thats absurd.
I really hope that you reevaluate your expectations for this class because they are
far too high.
7b: But usually it opens the door for important
conversations with students

8: Students are ready for this.
http://www.zps.org/content/ipads-put-good-use-flipped-geometry-class

End of Part 1
Begin Part 2 following short break
More time for questions later
Or on Twitter, #lwcflip

Teaching and learning in the inverted classroom

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