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Teachers turn learning upside down
'Inverted learning' allows students to practice what they learn under the guidance of their classroom teacher
Before, students were trying to modify their inherent learning styles to meet the lecture format.
Some innovative teachers are turning the traditional classroom model on its head in an effort to make instruction more valuable to their students.
This new teaching and learning style, often called “flipped” or “inverted” learning, makes the students the focus of the class, not the teacher, by having students watch a lecture at home and then apply the lesson with the teacher in the classroom.
With inverted learning, these forward-thinking educators say, students can absorb the material as homework and then practice what they’ve learned with guided help from the teacher if they need it. This new learning style not only makes class time more productive for both teachers and students, but also increases student engagement, increases achievement, and caters to all forms of personalized learning, say the teachers.
Although this style of learning might be termed “inverted,” perhaps it’s the current style of learning with teachers as the “sage on the stage” that is backwards.
“I experimented a lot with differentiated instruction and layered curriculum,” said Dan Spencer, a science teacher at Michigan Center High School and educational technology consultant for Jackson County Intermediate School District (JCISD). “One thing I began to realize as I did that was that not all students learn in the same way or at the same pace. Unfortunately, the way schools are set up, all students are forced to learn the exact same thing in the exact same time and in the exact same way. I wanted to find a way to change that.”
Spencer, who currently teaches three sections of chemistry and two sections of engineering every day as part of Project Lead the Way, typically has anywhere from 15 to 28 students in a chemistry class period. The school district is relatively small, with roughly 400 students in grades 9 through 12 in a lower-middle class community.
Many of the district’s students come from homes where their parents did not go to college, and many say they are going to college but few actually graduate from the next level, says Spencer.
For Spencer, a love for science came naturally, but he realizes this is not true for all students. He also realizes that interest in science is sometimes spurred by the teacher, not just the material.
“I know that very few of my students will go on to become chemists, physicists, or anything of that nature, but they should be able to leave my class knowing how to question, research, and test scientific claims regardless of what they choose to do afterwards,” said Spencer. “At the same time, I also feel that those students who do excel in STEM fields need to have classes that push them and challenge them with real-world problems, and not just memorized facts from a textbook.”
To help make that realization a reality, Spencer got a little help from his superintendent, David Tebo, who eMailed the entire high school staff an idea for a “flipped” classroom that came from two teachers in Colorado, Jon Bergmann and Aaron Samms.
When Spencer read the eMail, he knew that this was how he wanted to run his classroom.
13 Responses to Teachers turn learning upside down
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DavidTebo
December 23, 2010 at 11:28 am
Keep your eyes on Dan Spencer. He will continue to do great things. Nice work Dan!
DavidTebo
December 23, 2010 at 11:28 am
Keep your eyes on Dan Spencer. He will continue to do great things. Nice work Dan!
MarkEMoran
December 23, 2010 at 2:27 pm
This is brilliant. I wish all teachers had the courage to try it out.
MarkEMoran
December 23, 2010 at 2:27 pm
This is brilliant. I wish all teachers had the courage to try it out.
tonenotvolume
January 4, 2011 at 12:45 am
I wonder why the idea of “guide on the side not sage on the stage” is offered as innovation in this article. This idea has been around for all fifteen years of my teaching career. The somewhat innovative step is using vodcasts as homework. Hyperbole such as “turning teaching upside down” is unnecessary and a misleading “lead”.
tonenotvolume
January 4, 2011 at 12:45 am
I wonder why the idea of “guide on the side not sage on the stage” is offered as innovation in this article. This idea has been around for all fifteen years of my teaching career. The somewhat innovative step is using vodcasts as homework. Hyperbole such as “turning teaching upside down” is unnecessary and a misleading “lead”.
specialibrarian
January 4, 2011 at 9:27 am
These vodcasts would have been a great tool for me, especially in math. More time to process, review, and practice the material then being able to go to the instructor with substantive questions would have made all the difference.
Also, public libraries would be an awesome vodcast partner for those students who don’t have internet access at home and there are knowledgeable staff members to help find more information.
specialibrarian
January 4, 2011 at 9:27 am
These vodcasts would have been a great tool for me, especially in math. More time to process, review, and practice the material then being able to go to the instructor with substantive questions would have made all the difference.
Also, public libraries would be an awesome vodcast partner for those students who don’t have internet access at home and there are knowledgeable staff members to help find more information.
Dpierce
January 4, 2011 at 10:38 am
Tonenotvolume, the “innovation” being described in this story is not the “guide on the side” piece, but the idea of presenting content as homework and doing practice in class–and this does, indeed, turn the traditional classroom model on its head. (Instead of getting the content in class and doing the practice at home, the inverted teaching model flips this around.)
Dpierce
January 4, 2011 at 10:38 am
Tonenotvolume, the “innovation” being described in this story is not the “guide on the side” piece, but the idea of presenting content as homework and doing practice in class–and this does, indeed, turn the traditional classroom model on its head. (Instead of getting the content in class and doing the practice at home, the inverted teaching model flips this around.)
natetowne
January 4, 2011 at 11:11 am
Fascinating – at first I wondered about those kids without internet access at home, but this seems to be a surmountable issue for some thanks to loaner technology. I’d like to see some efficacy research conducted on this new learning model – hope you’ll publish some in the near future as a follow-up.
natetowne
January 4, 2011 at 11:11 am
Fascinating – at first I wondered about those kids without internet access at home, but this seems to be a surmountable issue for some thanks to loaner technology. I’d like to see some efficacy research conducted on this new learning model – hope you’ll publish some in the near future as a follow-up.
jrljel
January 4, 2011 at 1:19 pm
So how do you do this is you are teaching a hand on class like shop or computer applications or cooking. Obviously, this is not for everyone because NOT ALL SUBJECTS
jrljel
January 4, 2011 at 1:19 pm
So how do you do this is you are teaching a hand on class like shop or computer applications or cooking. Obviously, this is not for everyone because NOT ALL SUBJECTS
jrljel
January 4, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Sorry, I accidentally hit the enter key. Not all subjects are LECTURE format!!!!
jrljel
January 4, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Sorry, I accidentally hit the enter key. Not all subjects are LECTURE format!!!!
cynthia.medeiros
January 4, 2011 at 4:08 pm
I am doing this with my HS economics classes, at a school for students with special needs. I give the students a syllabus with reading, assignments, internet activities, and videos and let them do the assignments at their own pace. Either I or an aide will answer questions and help them complete the assignments.
cynthia.medeiros
January 4, 2011 at 4:08 pm
I am doing this with my HS economics classes, at a school for students with special needs. I give the students a syllabus with reading, assignments, internet activities, and videos and let them do the assignments at their own pace. Either I or an aide will answer questions and help them complete the assignments.
stockwellapril
January 4, 2011 at 4:51 pm
This is such a great model for education. Reading about Dan’s success, it just makes sense. What isn’t mentioned is there are many companies that create this online curriculum so teachers don’t have to spend the time on it.
I actually work for a company that produces online video curriculum and I can see how this makes a classroom more efficient. Especially, when you have overachievers and underachievers in one class.
I wrote a response to this article here:
http://blog.thinkwell.com/2011/01/inverted-learning-a-better-way.html
stockwellapril
January 4, 2011 at 4:51 pm
This is such a great model for education. Reading about Dan’s success, it just makes sense. What isn’t mentioned is there are many companies that create this online curriculum so teachers don’t have to spend the time on it.
I actually work for a company that produces online video curriculum and I can see how this makes a classroom more efficient. Especially, when you have overachievers and underachievers in one class.
I wrote a response to this article here:
http://blog.thinkwell.com/2011/01/inverted-learning-a-better-way.html