Flip Your Classroom | Center for Teaching & Learning

What is a “Flipped” Class?

Flipping the classroom is a pedagogical approach where students first explore new course content outside of class by viewing a pre-recorded lecture video or digital module, or completing a reading or preparatory assignment. In-class time is organized around student engagement, inquiry, and assessment, allowing students to grapple with, apply, and elaborate on course concepts. In-class sessions typically entail collaborative coursework and use of active learning strategies, including case studies, problem sets, or structured discussion.

There are a number of reported benefits to implementing flipped classrooms, including:

More individualized help during class time, as an instructor can be “guide on the side”, rather than “sage on the stage.”
More opportunities for deliberate practice and increased support for students as they grapple with higher order disciplinary concepts and problems.
More opportunities for students to interact with their instructor as well as peers.
Student control over the pace of lectures: if providing video lectures, students can watch, rewind, and fast-forward as needed.
Resiliency: since the lecture-style material is pre-recorded, in-classroom activities are flexible, and classes are less likely to fall behind if technology or life circumstances interfere with a synchronous course session. Depending on the content, out-of-class materials can also be used in future semesters.

Recent studies suggest that the benefits of flipped classrooms are due, in part, to the incorporation of in-class activities, collaboration, and active learning strategies that have been shown to enhance student learning (see, for example, DeLozier & Rhodes, 2017; Jensen et al., 2015; Means et al., 2009).

Models of Flipped Classrooms

Standard flipping

Lectures are recorded (either as video or as narrated screencasts). Students are required to watch these lectures as homework and then spend class time doing problem-solving or other highly interactive, structured activities, usually in groups and with guidance from instructors and GSIs.

In-class activities could include in-class discussion, problem-solving, or group work exercises. They could also be technology-enhanced activities, such as:

Use polling to gauge student understanding of course topics and leverage poll results to spur discussion and/or individual and/or group problem-solving

Example polling tools supported at UC Berkeley are PollEverywhere, Top Hat, and Google Forms.

Offer class time for students to work collaboratively using shared documents, including bDrive (Google Drive) Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and (link is external) Jamboard.

Groups can be formed using bCourses Groups, Collaborations, or bCourses SuiteC

For additional collaborative learning ideas, see: Barkley, Elizabeth F., K. Patricia Cross, and Claire H. Major. Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college faculty. John Wiley & Sons, 2014. (Digital copies available through the UC Berkeley Library; includes adaptations for online courses)

One-day-a-week flipping

If a standard flip seems overwhelming, or not appropriate for your class, try flipping one lecture a week. UCB Chemistry instructor, Michelle Douskey, has done “Flipped Fridays”, where she recorded a short lecture video, which students watch to prepare for class. During class students worked in groups to complete tasks where they were solving real analytical problems. Answers were presented in class and students were asked to correct their own work and reflect on their understanding. (See Michelle's presentation on this at the 2016 Showcase of Teaching Innovation and Reinvention (STIR))

Selected-content flipping

Lecturing does not have to be completely eliminated from your class time. Instead, be selective and strategic about what you record for students to watch in advance. You might record only a subset of lecture materials, and reserve some of your class time for lecturing on advanced topics. Are there particular topics or concepts on which students routinely get stuck? Try designing in-class activities around these ideas or concepts. Or, consider recording lectures that cover content that’s likely to be reusable in future semesters, and plan on some in-class microlectures covering “hot-off-the-presses” topics, leaving plenty of time for active learning.

Flipping without recording video lectures

It’s a common misconception that instructors can only flip if they pre-record their lectures, which admittedly can be a time-consuming process. Instructors can, instead, find other ways for students to get content that might typically be delivered in a lecture: readings can be used, as well as other content such as powerpoint presentations, podcasts, or videos or animations that others have recorded.

Full hybrid flipping

Eliminate some in-class lectures completely and replace those in-class hours with time students are expected to complete online activities, typically watching the lecture. (Note: switching an existing class to a full hybrid flipped course requires approval from Committee on Courses of Instruction, COCI; see https://academic-senate.berkeley.edu/coci-handbook for more information.)

Things to Keep in Mind…

Experiment and Iterate

Flipping a whole class is no small endeavor. Start with small, strategic changes. As you become more familiar with the tools and approaches, explore ways to expand time spent in class on collaborative and active learning.

Tips for Videos (see Brame, 2016)

Aim for multiple short videos rather than one long video -- this will help to ease the technical work for instructors and better align with student attention and learning
Draw attention to or highlight important ideas or concepts.
Complement videos with guiding questions, interactive elements, or reflective components.

Remote Group Work, and Collaboration

Consider practices that will help student groups to function most successfully and equitably, particularly as they navigate collaboration in remote contexts, including group norms and roles (see also: Raygoza, León, & Norris, 2020)

Thinking about Flipping Your Class?

The Center for Teaching and Learning offers one-on-one faculty consultations to support your efforts to flip your classroom environment. CTL staff can answer your pedagogical questions, serve as thought partners, and share resources as you determine learning goals, content, teaching practices, and assessments for your course.

Additional Resources

Flipping Your Class, University of Michigan Center for Research on Teaching and Learning

Flipping the Classroom, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching

Flipped Classrooms, Educause Library

References

Brame, C. J. (2016). Effective educational videos: Principles and guidelines for maximizing student learning from video content. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 15(4), es6. (See also: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/effective-educational-videos/)

DeLozier, S. J., & Rhodes, M. G. (2017). Flipped classrooms: a review of key ideas and recommendations for practice. Educational Psychology Review, 29(1), 141-151.

Jensen, J. L., Kummer, T. A., & Godoy, P. D. D. M. (2015). Improvements from a flipped classroom may simply be the fruits of active learning. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 14(1), ar5.

Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. US Department of Education,Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development

Raygoza, M., León, R., & Norris, A. (2020). Humanizing online teaching. http://works.bepress.com/mary-candace-raygoza/28/