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| <div style="text-align: center;"><b>Abstract</b></div> | |
| Salman Khan began posting videos to YouTube in 2006 to help his cousin understand mathematics better. Almost immediately, Mr. Khan encountered educator comments on his YouTube channel from teachers who were using the videos to flip their classroom instructional paradigm. The operational word, flip, refers to the process whereby certain components of instruction will no longer take place in the classroom, but at the student’s residence. Under this model, educators can spend more time engaging students cooperatively in real-world mathematics problems. Furthermore, flipping the classroom causes every model of teaching to behave differently since it changes the environment. Later, Mr. Khan created a curriculum and standards map for teachers, a set of coaching features which provided teachers with instructional accountability, and provided students the ability to learn for mastery at their own pace. This study seeks to identify where a flipped classroom, or more appropriately a flipped instruction model belongs in the taxonomy of pedagogy. | |
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| <a href="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/260590/260590_original.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="The Khan" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/260590/260590_original.jpg" title="The Khan" width="550" /></a> | |
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| <b>Mathematics Lexicon</b></div> | |
| <b>Etymological definitions. </b>Mathematics, a word of Ancient Greek origins is comprised of two words. The first, mathema, can be translated in English as patterns, while the second word, techne, can be translated as the act of making art. Thus mathematics literally means pattern-based artistry. It should also be noted that the reason that one would not translate mathematics as ‘artistic patterns’ is because mathema is an adjective and techne is a verb or noun, and because the word techne does not refer to fine art, but to man-made crafts. The Hellenes distinguished techne from that which was made by phusei, or nature. Phusei and techne had a harmonious relationship since mathematics was the name for the skill by which ancient thinkers represented the natural world. Mathematics, understood properly as such, is therefore not equivalent to nor to be conflated with computation. Therefore, computation serves a role within mathematics as its language, while mathematics, as a whole, is the set of skills with which scientists, physicists, doctors, etc. perform their arts and find patterns, or theories, that can be replicated. | |
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| <div style="text-align: center;"><b>Models of Flipped Teaching</b></div> | |
| <a href="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/259434/259434_original.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Flip" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/259434/259434_original.jpg" title="Flip" width="550" /></a> | |
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| <b> Flipping a model.</b> In Models of Teaching, Joyce (2007), explains to the teaching community that “If you develop a repertoire of effective approaches to teaching, you can confidently try them with your students to help them achieve a variety of goals; moreover, you can help students with different learning styles find ways of learning.” This fact is presented alongside his work that, having undergone research and revision for over thirty years, presents an education canon of pedagogical theory and instructional practice. The difficulty, however in assessing the flipped classroom or flipped instructional paradigm, however, is that it post-dates the last revision of this perennially evaluated magnum opus. Indeed, before this paper defines and identifies what it means, it shall continue to use paradigm to describe it. First, educators, until recently, debated the question, what is actually getting flipped? Is the classroom flipped around in its arrangement like Jones (2007) presents educators to his “u-arrangement?” Or is the instructional style changed, and as Joyce (2007) addresses students are “learning for mastery?” Or is it both? Sams (2012) proposes the following definition, namely that “the concept of a flipped class is this: that which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class.” This description suggests that it may be as Joyce (2007) refers to the non-directive model, as a model where “the teacher’s role is that of facilitator who has a counseling relationship with students and who guides their growth and development.” After all, the students are developing “well-directed individual personalities” and “share the responsibility for the discussion” of content with the teacher (Joyce 2007). Sams (2012) also mentions that he instructs students “in the Cornell note-taking method” which suggests that there are aspects of what Joyce (2007) aptly describes as the “presentation model.” Sams (2012) later concludes that the flipped classroom is a union between his first definition and that of mastery learning, and explains that “A flipped-mastery classroom takes the principles of mastery learning and marries them with modern technology to make a sustainable, reproducible, and manageable environment for learning.” So far, in this brief analysis, there are five different models of teaching that have been accurately described as pertaining to the model. But it doesn’t stop there, because if what is normally done at school is done at home, then that suggests that the video-casts, or recorded lectures that students watch at home, are functioning as a form of “direct instruction” that takes place between a student and a passive recorded instructor (Joyce 2007). Additionally, Salman Khan (2013a) claims that “the popularity of the Khan Academy video library seems to have pushed it [the flipped classroom] into mainstream thinking.” Mr. Khan also adds that “others embrace bringing more project-based learning” models into the classroom (Khan 2013b). Furthermore, he asserts that “the flipped classroom is a simple but dramatic way to make classrooms more engaging for all involved” and that is promotes “age based cohorts at roughly the same pace” and that it “liberates students’ intellect and creativity” (Khan 2013). The descriptions above suggest that flipping is more than just a model. Sure, it can be seen that it enables certain models such as project based learning, mastery learning, etc., to function more effectively. And it can also be demonstrated that in swapping the environments it places the student in a non-directive role, and requires the student to share responsibility over their learning by accomplishing tasks at home. Additionally, the video-casts themselves, whether based on Sams (2012) or on Khan Academy are, at their core, a type of direct instruction, lecture, and presentation of instructional material. It is because of the fact that so many models can be associated with it, that flipping is really referring to one of the “three sides of teaching” and most appropriately identified as a “teaching style” (Joyce 2007). That is, the educators who choose to flip their classroom are creating a different environment in their classroom, and environment that admits of multiple styles of instruction. Joyce (2007) mentions that, depending on the style of the educator, the classroom can be “filled with warmth and acceptance” or “chilly and demanding.” Most educators would agree that opening up the focus of classroom instruction to the scientific and social families of teaching that the environment is by definition warmer and friendlier. In short, flipping a classroom is a environment and style switching, not a model of teaching in and of itself. | |
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| <div style="text-align: center;"><b>Is Flipping Effective?</b></div> | |
| <a href="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/259777/259777_original.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Ghetto" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/259777/259777_original.jpg" title="Ghetto" width="550" /></a> | |
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| Stuff, stuff, and more stuff. Richardson (2013) writes that “it’s not about the tools. It’s not about layering expensive technology on top of the traditional curriculum. Instead, it’s about addressing the new needs of modern learners in entirely new ways.” This concept at first seems to call the entire style of flipping into question. After all, isn’t watching a video at home, in essence, the same as watching the lecture live at school? Or worse, would it be better to simply see the teacher perform the video? Richardson (2013) addresses this criticism as well and refers to educational institutions that have “spent millions of dollars on iPads and interactive whiteboards in schools that do little more than deliver digitized worksheets or teacher-directed content to students.” Thus, there are serious questions that must be asked about the teaching style, flipped classrooms, namely what is flipping fixing in education? The answer would seem to be that is relegating direct instruction to its proper place. That is, perhaps direct instruction is always valuable, and perhaps worksheets, whether digital or otherwise, are always valuable. What flipping achieves, therefore, is not an uprooting of any one model over another, but rather a fundamental re-orientation of where models take place. The information processing and behavior models now function at the student’s home, while scientific inquiry, cooperative learning, and project-based learning take place within the class. Furthermore, the student and teacher seem to be inextricably wed in an inherently non-directive relationship. Richardson (2013) refers to this new style and says of himself, “I no longer need to send my children to school to learn algebra” and that his children and others who “have a self-directed disposition to learn” can access courses such as Khan Academy or MIT Open Courseware. And these online courses, it should be noted, are almost exclusively delivered according to direct instruction. Thus, as stated earlier, what seems to be emerging within education, is a re-orientation of the models themselves. What remains to be seen, however, is whether this reorientation is effective? Sams (2012) freely admits that he never consulted his principal or had research supporting its efficacy, and he asks and answers a rhetorical question at the beginning of his work “Is the flipped approach best for your students? Only you [educators] can decide that.” It seems odd that teachers should simply trust in a style that is not quite ten years old. Sure, there may have been uses of flipping responsibility, etc., but the formal classroom flipping and reorientation of the models of teaching in a comprehensive pedagogy is something relatively new, and proposed by Sams and Khan in 2012. Although many educators are fascinated by the idea of working on more projects and engaging students more cooperatively, the jury is not out yet out. It will be interesting to see how schools like Clintondale High perform after ten years of using this style. | |
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| <div style="text-align: center;"><b>Poverty and Access</b></div> | |
| <a href="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/260155/260155_original.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Payne" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/260155/260155_original.jpg" title="Payne" width="550" /></a> | |
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| A forgotten framework. Payne (2003), although writing before the flipping movement gained its current notoriety, makes the simple observation that “what may seem to be very workable suggestions from a middle-class point of view may be virtually impossible given the resources available to those in poverty.” This begs the question, how can educators expect students to function in a flipped classroom when they may or may not have access to Internet? In How to avoid being jipped!, Coach Jonathan Haack, utilizes portion of the flipped style, however, he mentions that “students who do not have access to a ‘smart’ phone or computer outside of the class may visit Coach Haack during SMART block and complete their duties at that time” (Haack 2013). This unit reflects an important understanding on the part of the educator because it demonstrates that educators must not foist middle or upper class ideals onto low sub groups. The reality is that over half of the students at Santa Fe High School, NM, where Mr. Haack teaches, receive free and reduced lunch. Furthermore, Mr. Haack revealed that he had used Edmodo from the beginning of the school-year, and that although every student had access to a textbook online in .pdf form, access to it online on their smart phones (if they owned them), and access to it at libraries, that nearly half of his students requested textbooks due to not having internet at home, or not being able to use it regularly. Approximately thirty percent of his students simply did not have Internet at all, including two advanced achievers in his calculus course. Approximately twenty percent of the students had Internet, but living in poverty, shared the only computer they had. As Payne (2004) notes, “One of the rules of poverty is that any extra money is shared.” In these students’ situations, this is imply an extension of this root concept since it was money that was used to purchase the internet, and subsequently that usage was shared by the entire household. There were a few outliers who simply did not like the interaction of a digital textbook, etc., and Mr. Haack accommodated them as he did his other segments of students. Mr. Haack, accordingly, was forced to re-think his use of Edmodo and Khan Academy and soon realized that, if either were to augment instruction and succeed in his classroom style, he would have to employ them within the instructional day. This worked for Edmodo, where students could sit in cooperative learning stations and mutually observe the digital textbook. Indeed, it even helped create a classroom set where there used to be none, since books were short of supply and no administrators were ordering. Khan Academy, however, was simply too difficult to institute, however, without majorly disrupting equity. There were simply not enough students who had access to the Internet. When Mr. Haack received a mobile cart of thirty iPAds, however, he began to reconsider, and it can be seen that in this latest unit that Mr. Haack is partially flipping his room by teaching and engaging students in how to set up Khan Academy accounts and add him as a coach, practice skills, and he has even begun to create his own video-casts. This stylistic approach has been met with student support (since they get to use iPads!) and it has also helped in cases of extreme absences where students were able to access material online. Coach Haack even composed his own video-casts. Nevertheless, the How to avoid being jipped! unit is a clear example of how the flipped classroom faces serious limitations in lower socio-economic areas. Although blending the approach into his normal instruction seems to have engaged more students, and even members of the School Board, such as President Trujillo, it remains to be seen whether the flipped style is effective or realistic. It is striking that Payne (2003) mentions that “one characteristic of poor communities is that virtually everyone has a VCR because of the value placed on entertainment.” The point she was making here is that, although ridden with poverty, these communities often have electronic devices that support entertainment. Educators are even heard today mentioning that many of their students have X-Boxes, and DVD players, etc., and all the new gadgets that have replaced VCRs. Nevertheless, the fact remains that, at the ground level, in the case of the study of 113 students that Mr. Haack conducted, nearly half did not have consistent Internet access. Yet another noted outlier were those who had access on phones, but not unlimited access. Additionally, there were even some students who were reprimanded for signing up for Edmodo text alerts only to be lambasted by their parents later for running up monthly bills. Once again, in order for the flipped classroom to succeed, and technological innovation in general, educators need to adequately address and design a true “framework for understanding poverty” (Payne 2003). | |
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| <a href="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/259929/259929_original.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Lexicon" src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oemb1905/19468200/259929/259929_original.jpg" title="Lexicon" width="550" /></a> | |
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| <div style="text-align: center;"><b>Conclusion</b></div> | |
| Questions in favor of declarations. Ascertaining whether flipping classrooms or instruction was a model of teaching, a change of environment, both, or something entirely different was discussed. It was concluded that flipping classrooms is properly identified as a style of instruction that allows for great flexibility with the models of instruction themselves, whether project based, scientific inquiry, or otherwise. Additionally, the hard facts about this model and whether it can truly be instituted with social justice remain to be seen since the poverty level present in the case study demonstrate that there are still many subgroups of students which do not have access to even basic internet. For this reason and others, the efficacy of the flipped classroom is still pending. | |
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| <div style="text-align: center;"><b>References</b></div> | |
| • Boreen, J., Johnson, M.K., Niday, D., Potts, J. (2009). Mentoring Beginning Teachers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers. | |
| • Brown, R.G., Dolciani, M.P., Sorgenfrey, R.H., & Cole, W.L. (2004). Algebra I: Structure and Method, Book I. Evanston, IL: Houghton Mifflin. | |
| • Haack, J. (2012). Math Design Collaborative: Unit Plan Template. Santa Fe, NM: Santa Fe High School. | |
| • Haack, J. (2013). How to avoid getting jipped! Santa Fe, NM: Santa Fe High School. | |
| • Harbin, B. (2007). Ten Steps for Planning and Writing Standards-Based Units. Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Education Board. | |
| • Jones, F. (2007). Tools for Teaching: Discipline, Instruction, Motivation. Cincinnati, OH: Frederic H. Jones & Associates. | |
| • Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2009). Models of Teaching. Boston, MA: Pearson Education. | |
| • Khan, S. (2012). The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined, New York, NY: Hachette Book Group | |
| • Khan, S., Slavitt, E. (2013). A Bold New Math Class. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/A-Bold-New-Math-Class.aspx | |
| • Khan Academy. (2013a). Common Core Map. Retrieved from http://www.khanacademy.org/commoncore | |
| • Khan Academy. (2013b). What makes a Khan Academy Classroom? Retrieved from http://www.khanacademy.org/coach-res/for-teachers/what-is-a-ka-classroom/a/what-makes-a-khan-academy-classroom | |
| • National Governors Association Center for Best Practices [NGACBP], Council of Chief State School Officers (2010). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Washington D.C.: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers. | |
| • Payne, R. (2003). A Framework for Understading Poverty. Highlands TX: aha! Process Inc. | |
| • Richardson, W. (2013) Students First, Not Stuff. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/Students-First,-Not-Stuff.aspx | |
| • Risi, R., Schiro, P., Serret-Lopez, C. (2005) Strategies for Success. San Diego, CA: AVID Center. | |
| • Sams, A., Bergmann, J. (2012) Flip Your Classroom, Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. | |
| • Sams, A., Bergmann, J. (2013) Flip Your Students’ Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/Flip-Your-Students'-Learning.aspx | |
| • Sparks, S.D. (2013) Study: Middle School Algebra Push Yields Minimal Performance Gains. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/03/27/26mathside.h32.html?tkn=SXCCNl9EenxZ4V7fdKm8Cqcg%2FpMV5AP8%2B806&cmp=clp-sb-ascd | |
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