Project Leader: Aydin Nassehi
This is a case study of one of the University's funded pilot Flipping Projects, looking at the motivation for flipping, the methods used, lessons learnt and impact.
Motivation
I am teaching Mechanical Engineering students one of their least favourite subjects. My hope was that by them having the chance to learn the basics, they would know more and become interested in manufacturing; that they would change their point of view and instead of thinking about manufacturing as a hindrance to their creativity they would look at the subject in a new light.
The flipped classroom
I prepared notes in advance, prepared weekly diagnostic quizzes, adopted “Just in Time” lectures and an assessed groupwork that would serve to consolidate the learning of each topic.
Lessons Learnt
Flipped teaching requires a lot more work in preparation; with JIT lectures the lecture workload can also be quite substantial but the classes are more fulfilling when the students engage with the subject. The students expectations are very difficult to manage as they are excellent A-Level students who want a traditional lecture ending in an exam for which they can revise and use they already proven (and developed) skills to get a good mark rather than being forced to develop alternative skills. Whilst digitally native the students consider social networking and interactive apps on their smartphones as "fun" and difficult to mix with "serious" lecturing.
Impact
The student evaluations showed very mixed results; a chart showing key scores from 2012/3 (pre-flipping) and two consecutive years of flipping are attached (below). It is noteworthy that data from this year might not be complete as the evaluation period is still open.