Enhancing the Student Learning Experience Through Lecture Flipping Jon Green (Biosciences) & Natalie Rowley (Chemistry) 21 November 2013 MDS Learning Forum

Flipped lectures

What is lecture flipping?  Also known as “lecturing without lectures” or “inverting the classroom”  interactive teaching delivery approach which inverts traditional lectures, often using technology-enhanced learning and teaching

In advance of the face-to-face sessions  Lecture content is delivered pre-lectures usually through screencasts or directed reading

In advance of the face-to-face sessions  Often accompanied by short online quizzes to assess students’ knowledge prior to lectures and short answer questions for students to identify areas of difficulty (“Just-in-Time Teaching” approach*) * “Just-in-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning and Web Technology” G.M. Novak, E.T. Patterson, A.D. Gavrin and W. Christian, Prentice–Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999

During the face-to-face sessions  Face-to-face time used for focussing on areas which students have identified as being difficult

Peer Instruction Brief lecture Concept Test: Students vote Correct Answer < 30% Correct Answer % Correct Answer > 70% Go over concept again Peer Instruction Students vote again Move on to next topic

During the face-to-face sessions  Interactive problem solving e.g. clicker questions (using “Peer Instruction”* approach) and practice questions * “Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual” E. Mazur, Prentice–Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1997

Peer Instruction example: Which electrons are filled first in the first row transition series?

Flipped lectures in Chemistry

Inorganic Chemistry for Biochemists  Flipped course for 77 first year Biochemistry students traditionally taught as 8 lectures  Flipped 7 out of 8 lectures (first was interactive quizzes on A Level material)  Produced 20 videos (using Camtasia, 5-10 mins, WMV, Flash and MOV) 3274 hits (post exam 4354 hits = 345 h)

 Generated 7 pre-lecture quizzes (MCQ + short answer)  Used face-to-face sessions as class tutorials  Went over points of difficulty, clicker quizzes and went through 6 past paper questions

Student feedback  “Seeing the video before the lecture really helps me to understand the content and allows me to ask any questions during the lecture”  “Really like how we follow the lectures online first and then go over problems in class”  “The pre-lecture videos are really good, and the class tutorials are interactive and a good reinforcement to our learning”

Staff perspective  Felt as though delivering personalised teaching sessions (“Just-in-Time” teaching)  Totally interactive so students engaged -– “class tutorial”  Many more thought-provoking questions asked  “Peer Instruction” worked well

Flipped lectures in Biology

Flipped lectures in Cell Biology and Microbiology  Challenges compared with Physics & Chemistry  Pre-lecture studies e.g. textbook, scientific papers/reviews, screencasts, pre-recorded lectures  Examples of class activities: 1. Clicker session on microscopy 2. Data interpretation session 3. Essay plan

What type of microscopy? A. Bright field microscopy B. Scanning microscopy C. Transmission microscopy D. Fluorescence microscopy

What cell component/organelle is labelled? A. Golgi apparatus B. Plasmamembrane C. MT cytoskeleton D. ER

Data Interpretation  Students write a paragraph describing and interpreting the results  They then compare notes in small groups  This is followed by a class discussion

Essay plan  Topic based on pre-lecture material  Students work individually on the essay plan  Followed by discussion in small groups  Followed by class discussion

STEM Education Centre Research Project

Enhancing the Student Learning Experience Through Lecture Flipping

Research Aims  To investigate student engagement, experience and learning using a flipped teaching approach for first and second year undergraduate Bioscience students

Objectives  To use a flipped teaching approach (incorporating “Just-in-Time Teaching” and “Peer Instruction”) in two modules and to monitor student engagement, student experience and learning Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

Student Engagement  Monitoring student viewing of pre-lecture videos and completion of pre-lecture quizzes  Monitoring submission of questions relating to areas of difficulty through the pre-lecture quizzes  Monitoring lecture attendance Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

Student Experience  MEQ feedback  Customised questionnaires on various aspects of the flipped approach  Focus groups Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

Student Learning  Pre- and post-course MCQ tests  Online pre-lecture quizzes  In-class clicker quizzes  End of year exams Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

Data Analysis  Data will be analysed with respect to a number of factors e.g. students’ prior education, gender, home / international status, preferred learning style (VARK TM* )  N.B. VARK TM* = Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinesthetic and Multi-Modal * © Neil D. Fleming, Christchurch, New Zealand Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

Update: Chemistry flipping  58 (of 89) are participating in the research  79 (of 89) are routinely completing the pre- lecture quizzes and are submitting questions  Lecture attendance has generally been steady at of 89 registered on module Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

Mid-point feedback  “Much better to be informed on lectures beforehand and go over difficult parts as more efficient use of time”  “It is going good so far, pre lecture quizzes and videos have been very useful!”  “I really like this way of teaching i.e. with the pre- lecture presentations and quiz. It allows me to understand the material better and I can skip to any part of the lecture that I want if I don't understand something” Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

 “I'm finding the exam style questions really useful!”  “I feel that it is going well so far, as these quizzes are really beneficial as I can identify my weaker areas and deal with them much more quicker”  “It seems to be going well - the method of learning independently and reinforcing in class is very effective” Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

 “The course is going good so far, I like the idea of doing the lecture notes before the lecture because it helps us to learn the content more, plus we have a greater understanding before we come to the lecture”  “It has gone well and I am happy with this method of teaching”  “Finding it much harder to concentrate and learn than tradition lectures” Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5 Students A Level tariffs Gender Home/International A2B, Foundation Year and widening participation VARK test 5

Curriculum Review  Transforming Teaching Delivery Strand

Acknowledgements  University of Birmingham Centre for Learning and Academic Development for funding ( )  University of Birmingham STEM Education Centre for funding ( )