We (ATSS) had the opportunity to talk with Victor Barocas about his experience “flipping” his classes. Professor Barocas, who teaches in the College of Science and Engineering, began by flipping a new class he was scheduled to teach in 2018. The experiment worked wonders. Today, he is working on flipping his third course because this method of teaching has elevated his students' learning and his own satisfaction as a teacher. Read edited excerpts from our interview below.
What does your flipped classroom look like?
Students watch a recorded video lecture before class. For the recorded video lecture, I talk for 15 - 20 minutes about the concept and then do a problem. Every video for my class has a problem at the end that I solve on the transparent, illuminated board [Gopher Glass]. The students have to turn in that problem at the beginning of the in-person class, so they at least have to watch that part of the video once and copy the answer down.
Then, they come to class and sit around a table, typically 5 to a table. I let students self-select their groups based on who they sit by during that first class. Together they work on the assignment for the week. TAs and I walk around class and talk to the student groups. I walk around and ask them, what are you working on? Let me see it! What do you want to talk about? Sometimes I pull together students who have similar questions into a new group to get more assistance learning the foundational knowledge.
What motivated you to make this change to a flipped classroom format?
Before I tried flipping a class, students had indicated that their favorite part of class was when I stepped away from lecturing and they would work through a problem and talk about it. The flipped format allows me to lean into that practice.
How do you prepare to flip a class? How do you get started?
Just like any class you teach, it’s important to have a plan for the whole semester before you start. I’ve learned to pace myself - I schedule video recording time in chunks so my voice doesn't give out. Another thing I’ve learned is to make short videos. Typically, I keep them under 15 minutes.
I think the biggest challenge has been thinking about the way I apportion time because it’s so different from a traditional class–not just with the videos but also the time spent in class. It probably took me a full semester to adjust.
When I flipped 2 larger sections with 50 - 70 students each, I was given more TAs with a smaller time commitment specifically for classroom support. This was a valuable change as having more TAs available during class provides more individualized support.
How do you prepare your students?
I’ve learned that it takes a student somewhere between a week and a month to figure out how a class works. It was really important to have consistency and rhythm in the flipped class because students have less experience with it. For instance, students expect to watch a 15 - 20 minute video before they come to each class. They know the video will end with a problem that they have to turn in. Students know that when they come to class they will work together on the homework assignment for that week.
Part of preparation is making sure that students understand the role of homework in my class. I explain to them that the homework they do during class time is more of an educational tool than an assessment tool. I emphasize to students, you are supposed to be talking about these problems with each other. This is how we're teaching you the material. I think that is a very difficult concept for students who have gone through much of their educational careers thinking of the homework as an assessment.
We did an experiment this year that has been a tremendous success and has helped reinforce the role of weekly assignments as a group learning tool: We had a student of the week at each table. The first problem is the student-of-the week’s problem. They are given the answer. They can’t show it, but they have to explain it to their group mates. The student of the week rotates each week among the group of 5 students who sit at each table. It’s been a way to force them to talk about solving the problem. This also gives even weaker students a chance to know stuff and gets them used to talking with each other with purpose. One student said to me, “I thought I understood this problem pretty well, but then people started asking me questions about it and I realized I didn’t understand it that well.”
What have your students gained?
The flipped classroom naturally personalizes the education process for the student. I only spend a few minutes during class talking to each student individually, but I am talking to them about exactly what that student wants to talk about. And that is really valuable. One student will benefit from reviewing basics and getting them to the point where they’re grasping the basics. Another student who is more advanced in the topic wants to talk about, “Well what if I did this and this…what would that do?”
One thing I did not at all anticipate is the clear benefit that comes from the autonomy and control that students have over video. How and when they watch it is incredibly valuable. A student told me, “Sometimes you go too fast in a lecture so I just pause you.” Another student has said, “Before the test I watch all lectures at double speed to see if anything jumps out at me that I don’t remember.”
What have you gained as an instructor?
When I see my students succeed, that’s a success for me. But for me personally, there are some great things I’ve gained.
It’s so much fun! It’s so great to talk with students and share that time with them when they start to get it.
Sometimes we talk about other stuff, like, “Oh, I'm applying to graduate school. Oh, where are you going?” We just talk about stuff and I get to know them a little better. I like working with young people, and it's a chance to have more of a presence with them.
This approach is also organizationally advantageous for me. Going into the studio forces me to be prepared, and when I’m filming, I’m always on; I’m at my best as a teacher. Thus my students get lessons that are really organized and fully prepared.
Also, when teaching a regular class, it was normal for students to begin packing up 5-10 minutes before the end of class while I was still lecturing. With my flipped classes, I've had many days where
I actually have to say, 'Excuse me, everyone. It's time to stop now' because they're so engaged, they're working on stuff, and they're talking to each other. They just don't notice the time. And that is, as an educator, that's just incredibly gratifying.
*Co-authored with Lauren Marsh (ATSS).