How to Flip Your Class (ONE way to do this)
Flipping your class can seem like a daunting effort. Like all mere mortals, professors and teachers only have 24 hours in a day, and we have to SLEEP some of that. So ... here are my recommendations for how to manage the learning curve for you and for your students, and the time and effort needed. Take it step-by-step, be patient.
1) Start with Video Examples:
Learn to use the technology (Module 3) to create short video examples. Students love extra examples, examples to help them prep for exams, and worked test problems after the exam. Don't require them, just offer them.
Get feedback (just ask or pass out a paper that asks Yesterday I gave you a video example of X. Did you look at it? Was it helpful? What could I do to make it even better? Be sure your students are able to access and use the video material (that they have mastered the technology too).
2) Find a few active learning strategies that work for you:
You may already be using active learning in your class. Or you may want a few ideas. See module 4. Experiment with these (mostly these will be brief experiences in class)even as you are doing a traditional lecture. Get you and your students comfortable with a few strategies that you can use when you completely flip a section later. Get feedback (as above), but don't be discouraged if the students are initially resistant. Tell them what you are doing and how active learning helps them learn.
3) Flip a short section (2 weeks?) at the end of the semester:
Prepare 1-2 lectures/readings and associated in-class activities to start. For a 50 minute class, I give the students about 20 minutes of prep material (video lectures). Videos are broken into 3-5 min segments for easy access and download. Many students will spend more time (up to an hour) with them. I give very little reading prep, but that depends on your discipline. Most students prefer video to reading, but not all. Providing both video lectures and an associated textbook seems to meet all needs.
Prepare a page to tell your students what you are doing and why. Here is an example.
When preparing these lectures, plan that it may take you extra time at first (took me 4 hours the first time), but plan to get faster! (No 'Walt Disney' productions here) Force yourself to get faster making the videos, and/or find videos from someone else you can use. Be sure any videos you take from someone else truly reflect how you teach/explain the material.
Take it day-by-day and get feedback (as above) every day. LISTEN to your students. Some will, some won't like the flipped approach (see feedback I received from my freshmen circuits students, every 3 weeks). Help with any student problems you encounter (especially accessing the material, material being too long, not at the right level, too boring, etc.) Be very kind about their concerns and frustrations transitioning to this new student-centered learning experience, but also be persistent. Try to think like a student, and make this as effective and enjoyable experience for them. Have confidence in what you are doing, but listen and adapt the specifics as needed. Talk with other faculty who flip, and get ideas (that's what you are doing in this class!). MONITOR STUDENT WORKLOAD and make sure it is reasonable. Tell them what to expect.
Flipping a class is a much more cooperative learning experience than a traditional lecture classroom. You will probably find out a lot more about your teaching than you ever imagined possible, some of which you will probably find fascinating and may lead to other innovative ideas, and some of which you will be disappointed by (what do you mean they don't like my jokes?). You will find out a LOT about what students don't understand, and you can fix it right away, usually even more so than in a traditional class. You are likely to get a lot more questions and higher level questions in class, perhaps not even have time to answer them all (provide an online discussion forum as well), and perhaps not even be ABLE to answer some of them. Don't be intimidated by the somewhat freewheeling nature of a flipped classroom, but also don't lose total control of the class. If there is material you really MUST cover, then cover it you must. But, when there is some flexibility in your topics/schedule/discussion, go with the flow and enjoy the ride. Be aware of student dynamics in your class, including the shy students, and engage in as many different ways as you can to provide a comfortable environment for all students. Don't let super-prepared students overshadow the rest of the class, make it clear when things are beyond the scope of the class.
Mostly, have fun with it. Take your time, flip what you can now, flip more later, and experiment as you go. This is an especially dynamic time in education, enabled by access to inexpensive devices for information delivery. You are exploring the forefront of what you can do with these new tools. But it isn't the delivery tools that are so important, it is the information and learning that you create and your students engage with that is the magic inside the flipped classroom.