Common Myths About the Flipped Classroom, the Truth

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• Myth Statement 1:  Flipped classrooms are only a recent educational trend.
  The Truth:  The contemporary idea of covering information outside can be traced back from the mid- to late 1800s when American law professors implemented the casebook instructional method (often coupled with Socratic method).  Providing pre-recorded video lectures out-of-class review can be traced back to the late 90's (Lage, Platt, & Treglia, 2000).

• Myth Statement 2:  Flipped classrooms are mainly about watching video lectures online.
  The Truth:  On the low end of the spectrum, flipped classrooms can be about posting video lectures online and completing homework during class.  However, flipped classrooms should and can be more than that.  Research-based methods for flipping the classroom include peer instruction, team-based learning (TBL), and just-in-time teaching.  The core question to flipped classrooms is this: what is the best use of class time?  The video components are not central to flipped classrooms/learning.

• Myth Statement 3:  You need to flip your entire class in order to create a flipped classroom.
  The Truth:  There is no rule that all learning experiences have to be flipped.  In fact, you can flip a module/unit, a lesson, a small piece of a lesson, or a combination of these.  One recommendation is to select a topic, concept, or lesson that students find to be the most difficult and proceed from that point.

• Myth Statement 4:  Flipping your class or lesson(s) means that students will stop coming to class.
  The Truth:  When planned and implemented effectively, flipped classes can increase attendance.  Freeing up class time by moving the direct instruction or traditional lecture outside of class means you now have time for your students to do more engaging activities (i.e. higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy).  Ideally, these engaging activities should take place when instructors and students are in the same learning space (face-to-face or online).
  
  Consider a project-based instructional approach by having your students create something during class time.  For example, have students bring their laptops or tablets to class and engage them in collaborative (or individual) projects such as creating multimedia-rich presentation such as video while modeling effective collaborative project planning with Google Documents.  Having students create multimedia works that require voice-overs is a great way to diversify class assignments and provide students opportunities to show off their technology skills (and, of course, their understanding of content/concepts) through class presentations. 

• Myth Statement 5:  Flipped classrooms replace instructors with computers.
  The Truth:  Actually, instructors are essential in flipped classroom environments as they do many of the same tasks in traditional learning environments such as clarifying content or concepts when necessary, assessing student achievement, and facilitating and managing time for in-class activities.  In flipped environments, the instructor's expertise is leveraged before, during, and after class in different ways compared to more traditional methods.  Additionally, the flipped classroom model assumes that content coverage occurs primarily outside of class and is a shared role among students, rather than just the responsibility of the instructor.  This results in placing responsibility of learning on the student so that students can be engaged in authentic tasks during class time.

• Myth Statement 6:  Supporters of the flipped classroom dislike lectures.
  The Truth:  Many of us can recall during our college/university experience when some of the most inspiring courses were primarily driven by lectures; especially interactive thought-provoking lectures that included opportunities for peer instruction (at least for me).  We should never want to stop a great lecturer from lecturing.
  
  Supporters of the flipped classroom model/concept recognize that the quality of lectures and impact on student learning varies across higher education campuses.  Some courses should be left alone while other courses could benefit moving from a pure lecture-based format to instructional methods that take advantage of new, and research-based, instructional strategies and technologies.
  
  The transition from lecture to a different instructional format is ultimately up to the individual instructor.  This idea is often seen as a paradigm shift that often takes instructors away from their comfort zone of teaching.  When an instructor does want to flip a lesson or module/unit, then instructional support and resources should be readily available.

What myths or misconceptions have you encountered?   What is your experience with creating flipped classrooms, lessons, or modules/units?

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments section below or back on the first page. 

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