The future of the classroom could be out of the classroom

By Andrea Richard

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Students can expect to see fewer lecture-based classes and more “inverted classrooms” in the upcoming years.

The inverted classroom, also referred to as flipped instruction, is a teaching approach where students learn new material by watching lecture videos outside of class and use classroom time to complete assignments and pose questions to the instructor.

This is the structure Statistics 210 is modeled after at UK.

William Rayens, developer of the inverted method for Statistics 210, said the course was created when he and a fellow colleague came together to question their effectiveness in the classroom.

After discussing their teaching approaches, which included what Rayens called “static lectures,” he came away convinced it was no wonder students fell asleep in class.

“Students need us to help them understand deep ideas and deep connections,” Rayens said. “Not to show them definitions and material that any of us could learn on our own.”

Education professor Joan Mazur said flipped instruction focuses on the things students need assistance with rather than the things students already know. Class time is used to focus on material and disciplinary knowledge that students need, but may not get in an ordinary classroom setting.

This type of course requires students to complete necessary material before coming to class so they can ask the instructor questions.

Psychology and history sophomore Becca Boom does not prefer the inverted form.

“I would rather have (class) in a lecture setting,” Boom said. “If (lectures) are not in class, you have to (watch) it on your own time. Sometimes you just forget.”

When comparing her level of engagement between sitting in a lecture and watching a video online, Boom said she’s not really engaged while watching it online.

“You’re not taking the time to learn the information (by watching a video),” Boom said. “You’re just doing it to get it done.”

Finance sophomore Abbey Tillman said she enjoys the inverted classroom idea.

“I think it holds students accountable to actually watching the lectures,” Tillman said. “It gives them incentive to not struggle in class and feel behind.”

The responsibility of having to do a majority of the work beforehand can be difficult for some students, Dustin Lueker, a Statistics 210 instructor, said.

“If it’s a student who’s going to be prepared, I don’t think they are going to mind the course. If they are someone who slacks off, it may hurt them more,” Lueker said.

“Part of the exercise is to get students to think for themselves, to use what knowledge they already have before going over it. The material makes more sense when students think of the problems beforehand without having it explained to them.”

With internal grants being offered through the university for the development of these types of courses, students can expect to see more inverted classrooms in the upcoming years.

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