Flipped classroom technique showing signs of success

By KENDALL KING, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on December 8, 2021.

Cassie Young, a Grade 3 teacher at Medicine Hat’s Herald School, has explored in-depth the potential benefits of flipped classrooms, a teaching style which aims to maximize communication between teachers and students and encourage higher level thinking.

“Flipped learning is essentially kind of the opposite of what we do right now,” Young told the News. “Teachers record lectures or presentations for the skill they want to teach before class and send it out to students, and then the students actually engage in active learning when they’re in the classroom so the teacher is not actually teaching when they’re in the classroom, but the teacher is more of a facilitator.”

Young’s research of flipped classrooms began when she was completing her Masters degree at the University of Calgary. A topic intriguing her throughout her studies was the evolution of education in relation to societal and technological evolution.

“Social media and technology have changed the way we’ve transmitted and learned about information,” said Young. “Technology is a main source to pass along the information to the students outside the classroom … So for me, looking into technology and how to use it effectively in classroom was a really big passion of mine.”

Young’s research on the topic earned her an invitation to the International Online Teaching Symposium in June of this year, where she presented her findings.

“Seventy-eight per cent (of students) felt they understood the content better and they were able to simplify their learning through the flipped classroom,” she said.

She does believe the implementation of flipped classrooms could be beneficial to students, but isn’t sure if it will be accepted any time soon.

“I would love to see it tried, I just don’t know if we’re they’re yet … It’s a major model shift in how educators teach and students learn,” said Young.

Young is grateful for the opportunity to present her research and is excited to see future developments in the flipped classroom model.