Flipped versus Traditional Format: Surveys

Compared to a traditional college lecture format, our ‘flipped classroom’ with podcasts, class discussion and tasks, online self-tests, frequent tests, and reduced readings and writing was ...

 

approximate percentage of podcasts watched

approximate percentage of podcasts watched more than once

approximate percentage of reading done

final grade

average response

92%

14%

66%

 

grade correlation

0.11

-0.23

0.16

 

educational effectiveness correlation

0.43

0.06

0.32

0.10

 

How did the use of podcasted lectures affect ... This weekend, Telford Work and Jane Wilson are leading a session on this flipped classroom experiment at the Gaede Institute's annual "Conference on the Liberal Arts." Educators from a number of different institutions will be there exploring the effects of technology on education.     As someone who went through the course, do you have any comments you would like us to make available there?
your understanding of course topics? your in-class discussions? your performance on tests?
The lectures did a good job parsing out the concept in digestible chunks. If you understood one part of the concept you could skip ahead, rewind if you didn't understand. Gave detail and examples that were fun to discuss in class. Lots of detail to study for on tests, but worth it when you knew the right answer. Lectures in digestible time increments, with appropriate length breaks in between in tandem with hand-written notes really solidifies the information. Maybe, even better than a traditional 50 min lecture. Especially with a topic like theology, it was much less intimidating this way. Having more discussion in class was a plus too.
The podcasts were the foundation for understanding the course topics. The podcasts provided a starting place and an environment for dialogue that incorporated a lot of personal questions and experience along with the material The podcasts directly affected my performance on the tests since the tests tested the material on the podcasts and the readings. I loved it overall. At the time it was difficult because I had to be motivated to actually watch the podcasts outside of class and could not simply show up to class everyday and sit and absorb the information. Now I appreciate it so much because I feel like I learned the material better and it is SO NICE to be able to tell people about the class and then if they have questions about a specific topic, be able to direct them directly to the podcast relating to that topic.
They helped a lot, because I could re-watch them and pause them to discuss with a partner if I had one. I really only understood and was engaged in discussions if I had watched the podcasts. Hard to say, because I had never taken a class like this so I have no past performance to compare my test scores here. I really enjoyed the flipped classroom, because I could make Telford go at my pace (which was usually very slowly due to the difficult nature of the material). However, if you use a flipped classroom, make sure your in-class discussions are worthwhile. Having only one or two people bring up discussion questions kind of gives everyone else permission to check out while watching podcasts. In addition, not all tangents and side topics are helpful for understanding. Sometimes those tangents just confused me further, since I didn't understand the basic concept to begin with. It's very helpful to have just a brief overview of the concept and if anyone has questions on that they can let you know. Overall, I like it more than a traditional classtime!!
very effective- i liked being able to bring questions to class about what we were discussing effective- it helped me to understand and cntribute more less effective- it was hard to know how much of what I needed to improve on for tests and what i understood
They helped a lot Somewhat helpful Very helpful I enjoyed the flipped classroom
The podcasted lectures improved my understanding of course topics. It was nice to be well informed on the topic before coming to class to discuss. I for the most part did well on tests with the podcasts.
This flipped class structure really leaves it up to the student to decide how fully they want to be immersed in the material. I feel like that is what education is all about. We were given the opportunity to go above and beyond what would have been traditionally possible with a regular classroom structure. Our only limitation was our personal motivation. So yes, some students complain, and groan. Yes, it was more work. But I would not trade the opportunities we were given to really dive deeper into Doctrine for anything.
Anything I did not understand after watching the lectures, we clarified during class time. It enriched in-class discussions because we were familiar with the information beforehand. Yes, I believe it helped my performance on tests. Although it was, indeed, an extra time commitment, I strongly believe in the system. It allowed me to receive an A in a class where the course material would have originally been overwhelming.
It gave me the information that I wanted to learn from the course They helped my when we used the self-test questions for our discussion They helped me understand how to think for the tests and how to bring all the information together This system helped, I thought, in the comprehension of the material for the students. If a student didn't understand the material they had the option to go back and look at it again for themselves online, whereas they cannot necessarily do that as easily in the classroom setting. What I found helped me was the discussion based around the self-tests because it provides a way for students to internalize the information for themselves ahead of time, bring it to class, and then discuss and understand whatever areas of  the information they may have had trouble on.
it helped me significantly because I could watch when I was in a focused mood and I knew that I could always research something I missed If anything was unclear or needed more discussion in the lectures then it was easy to bring it up in class The podcasts were a great study tool if I was unclear on anything or if I needed further review I lived the format of Telford's class and although it was a lot more work outside of class than my other classes had, I found that discussing the material in class allowed me to retain the information better and longer. If you are a student that does not have the self-discipline and responsibility to keep up with all the outside work, this class format is not for you though.
Understood more info. in more depth not much Decent amount Made the class more interesting to go to
They were immensely helpful especially because if I did not fully grasp something (or if I tuned out for a few seconds) I could pause, rewind and re-listen or I could pause and google any unclear subject. These things are not available within a classroom where a teacher lectures verbally while students take notes (unless the remote from click becomes accessible). It especially helped when I would re-watch the earlier lectures that I had a faint memory of just before the test. It is much more interesting and much easier to study by sitting in a chair just listening rather than finding ways to memorize vocab words and other meticulous test norms. This method is effective, but can fail if students would rather not make effort to dedicate a good amount of time to a flipped classroom course (there are no "shortcuts" or skimming podcasts). I found the material interesting and imperative for my Christian academic paradigm, but if this course consisted of subject material I did not find essential to steep myself in, I do not think I would have sacrificed the time to immerse myself so deeply. This is one of those courses that I think must be "top priority" of the semester in order to receive an A.
HELPED IMMENSELY.  Telford explains things very clearly, but the ability to stop and rewind him was hugely helpful in increasing understanding of the topics. Made them more informed and the time b/w watching the lecture and the class discussion allowed for reflection on how what we learned is present in our own lives I don't know if I would have done half as well on tests w/out the podcasted lectures.  Being able to take the information at my own pace assured full understanding, and it made sure that I didn't miss anything while trying to scribble down notes Most of my thoughts are above, but I thought the flipped classroom design was a crucial part of my success in this class.  A lot of that has to do with the subject material, but overall, I think the design provides a lot of benefits (e.g. allows you to take material at own pace; frequent tests allowed us to take things one bite at a time, which enhanced my learning; the self-tests were immensely helpful in understanding and identifying the "big ideas" for each section, and the reduced writing prevented excessive stress and shoddy work).  However, I don't know how well this design would translate to other subjects, like the sciences.  It worked especially well b/c Doctrine requires a lot of hearing, thinking and reflection, and memorization.  This design amplified the productive environments required for success in these kinds of classes.
The podcasts I watched were very informative I rarely attended class My test performance was not correlated to whether I watched the podcasts
Podcasts clearly and concisely explained course topics without the distractions or speed-bumps that can occur in the live classroom Podcasts informed the discussions significantly so that we were able to better understand difficult topics If I didn't watch the podcasts, I did worse on the test. In many ways the flipped classroom mimics tried-and-true methods of teaching by having students prepare before class so they can thoughtfully discuss and ask questions during class.  While this is most often done with readings or written homework, the video lectures off another venue for learning outside class.  While it is crucial to keep reading challenging books as students, the video lectures allowed us to cover more material in greater depth than we ever would have otherwise - I highly recommend it.
It helped to watch them before talking about them; but it was hard when we had questions while watching them because we couldnt ask you personally The discussions helped emphasize what happened in the lectures. The discussions clarified the lectures and allowed us to focus on the details. Though I didn't do very well on the tests, it was nice to go back to the lectures to re-watch what I didnt understand. I loved the flip classroom. It was nice to break up the lectures and watch them at our own pace. Instead of sitting in class for 2 hours listening to a lecture, I could break it up into 20 minute intervals allowing me to focus more and not get bored. I do wish that there was a way to ask questions while watching the lectures but I guess that is what class is for. I think this is a great way to teach and I really enjoyed your class.
I'm not sure if really helped understand any topics more or less. So, I'd say this was neutral. There were pros and cons. Pro: I could formulate question and have my own opinion ready before I asked the question. Con: not being able to ask questions in real time hindered me. Sometimes I would have a question while watching the podcast, then write it down. By the time I got to class, I didn't always remember why the question was relevant or important. It was really helpful to have the podcasts when studying for tests, because then if you didn't understand a concept or forgot something, you could easily go back and review the podcast. You also didn't have to worry about writing down every word the professor said, because, again, you could easily watch the podcast again. I think this is a very innovative and useful way of doing humanities classes, because it allows for more discussion. However, I don't know if it would be very effective in hard science courses, because there is not as much discussion. For science courses, it is more beneficial to have the professor there while you're learning in my opinion. However, having the science lectures available afterwards would be EXTREMELY helpful. That being said, it was really difficult to juggle this class's work with all my other classes' work. Essentially, you are getting double the lecture time, so when you sign up for a "3 hours/week" class, you are really signing up for a 6+ hours/week class. It may not seem like that much of a difference, but it really is when it comes down to it.
I was able to retain the information more efficiently. I was able to see what I had remembered and use it more efficiently. The podcasts helped me to focus on certain things for the test. I would not rely so much on technology because if it crashes, it will negatively impact a person or class.
Was effective. New abilities like being able to rewind and revisit something were afforded At times felt unnecessary. When answering a specific person's questions was easy to check out. But opened up more possibilities in class. Helped study for tests. Had a series of small units of content that helped frame what the test would entail. I enjoyed the set-up. It has its disadvantages, but it has advantages as well. The effectiveness of the format is absolutely tied to the style of the teacher, and their own effectiveness outside of format or technology. Dr. Work used the format wisely and, thusly, created an effective format for learning and engaging.
I understood the material slightly better than I would in traditional lectures, because I could re-watch segments and adjust the speed. I appreciated the extra time between the lectures and discussions to process the material. The podcasts slightly improved my performance on tests. I enjoyed the podcasted lectures, but appreciated that the course readings were in paper form. Online readings are difficult to use.
a ton! I could slow them down if needed, which is a luxury one can't have in a regular class. if you watched the lectures they helped a lot. positively affected my performance on tests since the tests were based on podcasts. The podcast outline notes were tremendously helpful as well. I thought the flipped classroom was excellent for this type of course. While it required much more time, and I wouldn't be able to do this for all my classes at the same time, it was very helpful for this one.
The podcasts made it slightly harder to understand the topics because confusions couldn't be cleared up quickly. none none The flipped classroom has great potential. But the pressure to teach is moved to the student who can choose to engage or disengage on a whim. The flipped classroom can easily stratify students and affect discussions. So the teacher's pressure (from my perspective) becomes entertaining and engaging students to do the work. I believe this method would be more productive in smaller, major specific classes where lessons build on foundations the students already have. This gives students the freedom to discuss intelligently as apposed to G.E. classes where students are scrambling to understand the basics. Personally, that was a discouraging place to be in and it took a substantial toll on my desire to do the classwork.
A lot None, made class time ineffective Based off of podcast understanding It feels like taking an online course. I miss teacher/student interaction! It takes a lot of discipline to etch the podcasts!
Grasped Very helpful and enlightening Got better as the semester went on