"Flipped Classroom" Changes More Than Just the Format
The classroom should not be limited to comprehension and memorization; it should be used to accomplish higher-level learning tasks. By creating videos to compress the time spent on content delivery, more time is freed up for students to conduct experiments, analyze, practice, and solve problems, enabling them to become better learners. The "flipped classroom" allows students to complete the simplest part at home—they only need to watch videos—while parents can provide assistance on the side. Even without any educational background, parents can supervise their children's viewing. More importantly, by recording videos to manage classroom time more effectively, the classroom becomes more meaningful for students.
When discussing the "flipped classroom" that is sweeping the globe, one name cannot be overlooked—Aaron Sams. This chemistry teacher from Woodland Park High School in Colorado, USA, was the first to "flip" the classroom. Nowadays, teachers everywhere are eager to emulate this approach, but many focus only on superficial changes like "micro-lessons" and video production, while the classroom remains the same. At the 4th "Magnolia" International Teaching Forum, hosted by the Hongkou District Education Bureau and concluded yesterday, Aaron Sams pointed out that the "flipped classroom" is not merely a change in format. More importantly, while emphasizing student self-directed learning, it uses the saved classroom time to cultivate students' higher-order learning abilities such as analysis, evaluation, and innovation. During this transformation, the goal is to maximize the use of face-to-face time between teachers and students to provide high-quality learning activities that help students better achieve their learning objectives.
Saving Time for Higher-Order Learning
"In my 14 years of teaching high school chemistry, I spent six years making the transition from a teacher who liked to control the classroom to someone willing to guide students." At yesterday's forum, Aaron Sams' opening remarks were candid and straightforward.
Woodland Park High School is a mountain school where many students frequently missed classes for various reasons, causing them to fall behind. In the spring of 2007, chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams uploaded videos combining real-time explanations with PowerPoint presentations to the internet to help absent students catch up. The more groundbreaking step was that they gradually used students watching videos and listening to explanations at home as a foundation, freeing up more classroom time to assist students struggling with homework or experiments. Soon, these online instructional videos were widely accepted and disseminated by more students.
"Parents here may have encountered this situation: children indeed listen attentively and take notes in class, but when they get home to do homework, they are still at a loss." Aaron Sams stated bluntly that this is a regression of schools! Because it leaves the easy part to be completed in the classroom but sends students home to tackle the more complex part.
Aaron Sams cited Bloom's Taxonomy, a learning classification by the renowned American educational psychologist. In this pyramid model, the lowest levels are memory and comprehension, followed by application, analysis, evaluation, and innovation—the higher the level, the greater the difficulty. "We spend most of our time on the bottom two levels, and less time as we go up. But I believe a more effective learning method would be to flip this pyramid." Aaron Sams said that the classroom should not be limited to comprehension and memorization; it should be used to accomplish higher-level learning tasks. His solution is to compress the time spent on content delivery by creating videos, freeing up more time for students to experiment, analyze, practice, and solve problems, making them better learners. The "flipped classroom" allows students to complete the simplest part at home—they only need to watch videos—while parents can provide assistance on the side. Even without any educational background, parents can supervise their children's viewing. More importantly, by recording videos to manage classroom time more effectively, the classroom becomes more meaningful for students.
Introducing the Concept of "Flipped Classroom"
Today, the trend of the "flipped classroom" is impacting the global education community. Many teachers are jumping on the bandwagon to produce videos, and "micro-lessons" are becoming increasingly flashy. Aaron Sams pointed out that the first wave of "flipped educators" made two major mistakes. First, regarding video production, the length of videos should vary by grade level. A basic rule is "time equals grade level"—for example, videos for fifth graders should be kept to five to seven minutes. As for the effectiveness of the videos, expectations should not be too high. "The role of the video is only to introduce the topic, not to have students fully understand it. It simply brings students into the classroom with this awareness to participate in learning." Another issue is that teachers have not taught students how to watch videos. He suggested that teachers provide students with tools and techniques while watching videos, such as offering charts or vocabulary lists for students to fill in, to aid their understanding.
At the forum, Aaron Sams also introduced the concept of the "flipped classroom," stating that "the 'flipped classroom' is not a fixed model; it is very flexible." He gave an example: "The flipped classroom can be flexibly adapted to various learning styles and content based on students' needs, enhancing the quality of learning. For instance, the flipped classroom works very well in math and science, where video learning prompts students to propose more hypotheses and test them in class. However, this model may have limitations in the humanities. Math teachers can completely 'flip' the entire classroom, but humanities teachers do not need to—they only need to 'flip' a part."
The flexibility of the "flipped classroom" also means it does not have to adhere to a single learning method. Aaron Sams stated that he does not require students to watch videos, read textbooks, or search the internet. They can freely choose their preferred method and use available resources to achieve specific learning goals. "After I changed the rules of the game, I only require you to learn, regardless of the method you use to learn." Aaron Sams said that in this process, the teacher plays the role of a guide, leading students to actively learn appropriate content and take control of what they learn.
