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By: Cassandra Hendry

Universities today exist in constantly changing technological and social atmospheres. New teaching tools like Skype, cell phone polling and online videos have changed the way professors and students interact in the classroom. But at the heart of it, are classes still professor-driven lecture periods? If so, what does this mean for student learning?

These questions are at the center of some hot topics in education. Born from a dissatisfaction of the traditional lecture style, a new method has emerged as an answer: flipping.

Flipping the classroom involves breaking down the expected learning style so students and teachers are on the same level as partners in learning. The professor is no longer a talking head and students are no longer passive vessels for information.

Learning is active and interactive, incorporating pre-class preparation, discussion and teamwork. Students do most of what would normally be covered in class before class even starts, whether it’s readings, written assignments, or online work. They then spend the lecture period working through material with their peers and the instructor as a group.

Recently, Joel Harden and Jeff Erochko, two �Ӱ�ԭ�� professors, tested out the flipped classroom model and came up with very interesting results.

Harden, a law professor, created his unique flipping style by focusing on what he likes best: writing, not testing. Instead of the usual regurgitation of dates and facts on tests, Harden graded his students on written assignments sent to him weekly.

“I tried to get them to take more ownership of their work rather than being passively present and listening to me talk for an hour and a half or three hours,” he says.

These weekly assignments are miniature legal briefing sheets that are supposed to show how each student is grappling with the material. Once they’re submitted the night before the course, Harden reviews them and works the results into the next day’s class.

Engineering professor Erochko took a slightly different approach to his flipping experience.

In his class, third-year engineering students had to read notes about what would be covered and watch informative videos ahead of time. When students arrived, they had a basis of what the material was and Erochko could focus on solving problems then, instead of having students confused at home, where they didn’t have access to help.

“Having them do that in the lecture, and addressing those immediate misconceptions about how to do the problems, I feel this has made a big difference,” he says. “At least getting them up and running and not starting from zero.”

But while some sing the praises of the flipped classroom, it’s not always the perfect solution for every class.

Erochko found strong pushback from his engineering students, given that they usually don’t have to read the textbook or do structured preparation for class ahead of time.

“They expected I should be delivering the information to them, like, ‘What am I paying for?’” he says.

He also ran into students who complained because they weren’t used to flipping’s non-traditional learning style.

“They have very strong expectations about what your role is, what their role is, and what the lecture should be,” Erochko says. “You really have to commit to the method in order to use it. If you go half way, it just comes off to them like you’re doubling up their work.”

Harden found this to be the case too, and stressed the importance of letting students know in advance that this is a different learning style, as some don’t thrive in these conditions.

“You have to tell them right out of the gate that it’s not television and they’re not going to passively sit and absorb it. I’m requiring them to participate,” he says.

Used in different faculties and with different learners, flipping can be both positive and negative. While Harden says “it can work for anybody” if they keep a balance between chaos and order, Erochko says he’s not completely convinced it’s the best for students, though it can work.

“If I had any advice for my colleagues, it’s to think about how it makes sense for you,” Harden says.