Flip teaching could prove beneficial

A student looks blankly at the whiteboard while his teacher introduces a new concept. Thoroughly confused, the student feels too embarrassed to ask the teacher for help because his classmates appear to be grasping the lecture material with ease.

This problem is common in many classes, especially in advanced math and science courses. Trig/PreCalc Honors teachers P.J. Yim and Debra Troxell have attempted to address this issue through an alternative teaching technique: flip teaching.

Students would benefit from flip teaching because it enables them to learn concepts individually at home through videos and other multimedia, and then utilize class time to reinforce this knowledge.

Troxell has already produced three videos for her AP Computer Science classes and these videos might become the norm as both teachers begin to implement this way of teaching.

Flip teaching allows students to rewind or replay the teacher’s explanation of an abstruse concept multiple times, an effective learning tool unavailable in the traditional classroom.

Additionally, students attend class with a subject fresh in their minds, and the teachers can assess student understanding through class work.

Many students have more time at home than they do in class, it makes sense to take their time learning the lesson. If they have any additional questions, they can ask the teacher in class.

Also, students often don’t have a lot of time to do a lot of book work at home and may be very confused while doing it. With flip teaching, the book work that is given now would be cut down and students don’t have to complete as many problems at home. They would have to watch a video and try some problems the best they can.

Flip teaching also allows for a more flexible lesson plan, lessening the stress on teachers who otherwise must cram difficult lectures into single block periods.

In other classes, flip teaching may not be as ideal. For example, history or English classes are based primarily on comprehension and should continue to be lecture-driven in the classroom.

Science classes, on the other hand, would be conducive to flip teaching because these classes are generally more conceptual. The subjects could easily be taught through a video that gives science teachers more time for labs and class work to reinforce the students’ understanding of the topic.

Another flaw is whether or not the students will actually do their homework. Some students neglect to do their homework now and with flip teaching, students will be lost in class if they don’t watch the video. As a solution, teachers could consider giving an occasional pop quiz on the video to ensure students did their homework.

As with teaching styles, the effectiveness of flip teaching varies with the teacher. Some teachers will be very successful in making their in-class lesson into a video, others will not. Furthermore, Teachers will have to put some time outside the classroom to film these videos and some students may learn better the traditional way of teaching. However, given the right student and teacher, flip teaching may be very helpful and effective.