1. The Flipped Classroom Teaching high school physics in the 21st century
Greg Johnson – Chico State Physics, Class of 2003

2. What led me to flipping my classroom?
Dissatisfaction with the results of traditional lecture, lab and test approach.
Children of the NCLB era are not fluent in math.
Exposure to new ideas in education
Inquiry
TED Talks
The factory model – Sir Kenneth Robinson
Kids can teach themselves – Sugata Mitra
Active learning
The magical NPR article on Classroom Flipping
Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams – creators of the flipped mastery classroom.

3. What we’re going to discuss today
Issues with the traditional approach
Defining the flipped approach
The flipped classroom
The mastery model
The evolution of the system I use now

4. Issues with the Traditional Approach to Teaching High School Physics
Keeping students together
Practice at home
Accountability
Labs

5. Keeping Students Together
Absences are common in high school
Reasons for absences
Sports and other school activities
Illness
Student government
Students get behind and can’t catch up
Absences are a big factor in failing grades
Absences create extra work for teachers and disrupt instruction

6. Keeping Students Together
The Goldilocks Problem – Not All Students are the Same
Lecture is too fast for slow learners.
Some students need more one-on-one instruction
Some students are not auditory learners
Lecture is too slow for fast learners.
Students become bored and could better use their time in other ways.

7. Practice at Home Real learning happens when students practice.
Students are sent home with practice problems that most cannot solve without help.
Teachers spend too much time “going over the homework”.
Students who are able to complete homework on their own are wasting time.
Impossible to answer everyone’s questions in the allotted time.
Students don’t do homework, knowing the teacher will do it on the board.
Students copy homework to get homework points.

8. Accountability Point mongering Student play the game of school.
Students’ goal is point acquisition, not learning.
Students are brilliant at “gaming the system”.

9. Accountability Cheating Cheating is epidemic
Many students feel that cheating on tests is okay.
Most students do not see copying homework or plagiarism as a form of cheating.
Cheating thrives in an environment where points are the main goal.

10. Accountability Good students love to memorize. The “Unspoken Contract”
Memorization is the lowest cognitive level on Maslow’s Pyramid of cognition.
Physics can’t be memorized!
Higher levels of cognition require time and practice.
The “Unspoken Contract”
A good student behaves themselves, does their work, and studies for tests.
A good teacher gives exams that mirror the homework and contain no surprises.
Students never learn to apply learning to new situations.
Tests can either be challenging and heavily curved or easy and not curved.

11. Labs
Research supports “active learning” as an effective tool to developing a deeper understanding.
High school classes are typically 60-80% lecture and only 20-40% lab activities.
For the sake of time, lab activities are usually “cookbook” approach.
Inquiry requires significant time investment and teacher oversight.

12. The Flipped Classroom What is the Flipped Classroom?
Homework is done in class
Class is also used for increased lab time, small group activities, and one-on-one instruction.
Lecture is at home
Reading
Video lectures
Role of the instructor
Instructor becomes “guide on the side” instead of “sage on the stage”.

13. Advantages of the Flipped Classroom
Videos can be watched many times.
Students who process slower can pause and rewind.
Many students watch video once to get an overview and again to take notes.
Videos are much more concise than lectures.
Homework problems are done in an environment where the teacher can answer questions.
One-on-one instruction has been shown to be the most effective teaching method but is nearly impossible in a traditional classroom.

14. Advantages of the Flipped Classroom
Students who need the most help get it.
Teacher can focus on struggling students.
Students are less intimidated asking questions one-on-one.
Teacher can pinpoint individual strengths and weaknesses and suggest personalized interventions.
More Time for Labs!
Moving lecture outside class time opens up space for inquiry labs.

15. The Mastery Model
Students cannot move from one unit to the next until they demonstrate mastery.
Student must pass quizzes with 70%-80% score to advance.
Students are allowed multiple attempts to pass quizzes.
Grade is based on a combination of test scores AND progress.
Benefits
Requires deeper understanding of fundamental concepts and prevents students from “just getting by” to pass the course.
Students are accountable for learning, not points.
Students gain confidence as they master difficult material.
The rigor level of tests can be raised very high.
Tests don’t have to be curved.
Teacher can spend time with each student evaluating their progress

16. More Advantages of the Mastery Model
Absences are not as debilitating
Students can make up missed work more quickly.
Most material is online and can help with long-term absences.
Students who process more slowly can take their time.
Many students start slow and pick up speed as time progresses.
Far less lab equipment is needed to conduct labs
Many demonstrations can be turned into lab activities.
Demonstrations that are slightly dangerous (our favorite!) can be added to videos.

17. More Advantages of the Mastery Model
Students enjoy learning and perform better when stress levels are reduced.
Test stress interferes with brain function – “fight or flight”
Students learn time management.
When students are given room to fail, they learn the consequences of procrastination.
Students take ownership of their learning.
Students stop treating learning as a “spectator sport”.

18. The Big Disadvantages Time Commitment Technology dependence
I spent over 500 hours creating videos.
Technology dependence
The internet is a fickle mistress.
Not all students have the same access to technology.
The Pain of Watching Students Fail
Student procrastination is given free rein.
Can be a little boring when students don’t need help.
Harder to do big, flashy demos.

19. The Evolution of My Approach - Videos
Conceptual physics videos – 80 videos total
Multimedia
Elaborate – each 5 minute video required 4-5 hours to create
Physics math videos – 75 videos and counting
Simple “Khan Academy” style
Each take about an hour to create.
At the beginning, videos were required. Now they are considered resources.

20. The Evolution of My Approach - Quizzes
1st Year
Paper quizzes – combination of multiple choice and math
4 versions
Disadvantages
Students had to wait for quizzes to be graded.
Students would share questions.
2nd Year
Online quizzes – acquired tablet computers
Unlimited Versions
Disadvantages
Website is buggy
Harder to assign partial credit

21. The Evolution of My Approach - Grading
1st Year
Progress was 70% of grade
Progress was reset every week
Quizzes were 10% of grade
80% minimum to move on
Labs were graded for a letter grade.
2nd Year
Progress is 40% of grade
Progress grade is cumulative
Quizzes are 40% of grade
70% minimum to move on
Labs are redone until excellent

22. The Evolution of My Approach - Labs
Formal
Quantitative
Spreadsheet analysis
Extensive write-up
Observational
Qualitative
Student write detailed observations
Making general connections
Tactile
Designed to experience the “physical” in physics.
Many are converted demonstrations

23. Final Thoughts Is the Flipped Classroom for every teacher?
Was it worth the effort?