Flipped Learning

Flipped learning – or flipped classrooms, backward classrooms, inverted classrooms, or reverse teaching – utilizes a model where students review content online via video lectures and assignments are completed during class meeting times with students and teachers working through and solving questions together. 

How It’s Developing

Flipped learning utilizes a method that encourages students to first study topics at their own pace (online video lectures, etc.) and then apply the knowledge in the classroom with peers and teachers. Flipped learning takes advantage of popular and educational technology such as online video and course management systems, allowing teachers to use class time for hands-on learning, coaching, and mentoring instead of content delivery. The method aligns with theories that students learn more deeply when they have opportunities for hands-on and interactive learning. [1] 
Early variations on this approach were introduced and encouraged by Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Johnson Anderson in their book Effective Grading (1998) and Maureen Lage, Glenn Platt, and Michael Treglia, who advocated the term inverted classroom, in their 2000 article “Inverting the Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment” (Journal of Economic Education). [2]
The “flipped classroom” finds its origins in the work of Colorado teachers Jon Bergman and Aaron Sams, who in 2007 began experimenting with technology to improve their face-to-face classroom time with students. [3] Initiatives such as the Khan Academy, a nonprofit founded by Salman Khan and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Google, have also helped advance flipped learning by providing free instructional videos on a range of subjects. [4] 
Several groups have defined key elements for flipped learning. One set of requirements includes an opportunity for students to gain first exposure prior to class; incentives for students to prepare for class; mechanisms to assess student understanding; and in-class activities that focus on higher level cognitive activities. [5] A second set of requirements includes flexible environment, learning culture, intentional content, and a professional educator. [6] 

Why It Matters

Transitioning to a flipped learning approach may require a significant amount of work for educators, including finding time and resources for recording, uploading, and managing lectures. [7] These might all be services that librarians and information professionals might be consulted or proactively sought to support. 
Library instruction, whether integrated into a course or presented as stand-alone sessions, may seek to adopt flipped learning models. [8]
Continued access to and management of many of the learning elements involved in the flipped learning environment may fall to library and information professionals. 
Students and other learners seeking environments where they can view recorded lectures without distraction may seek out spaces in the libraries for focus and serious study. [9] 

Examples from Libraries

Hershey High School Learning Commons - Passion Driven Research

Is you library innovating with flipped learning? Please let us know.

Notes and Resources

[1] “’Flipping’ a Class,” Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Texas at Austin, updated 2018, available from http://ctl.utexas.edu/teaching/flipping-a-class.

[2] “Flipping the Classroom,” Cynthia J. Brame, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, published 2013, available from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

[3] “Flipped Learning Founders Set the Record Straight,” Stephen Noonoo, The Journal, June 20, 2012, available from http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/06/20/flipped-learning-founders-q-an....  

[4] “Classroom Lectures Go Digital,” Michael Fitzpatrick, New York Times, June 24, 2012, available from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/us/25iht-educside25.html.

[5] “Flipping the Classroom,” Cynthia J. Brame, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, published 2013, available from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

[6] “Toward a Common Definition of ‘Flipped Learning,’” Robert Talbert, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 1, 2014, available from http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines/2014/04/01/toward-a-com....

and 

“The Four Pillars of F-L-I-P,™” Flipped Learning Network, available from https://flippedlearning.org/definition-of-flipped-learning/. 

[7] “Four Things I Wish I Had Known About the Flipped Classroom,” Robert Talbert, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 5, 2014, available from http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines/2014/06/05/four-things-....

[8] “Keeping Up with…Flipped Classrooms,” Candice Benjes-Small and Katelyn Tucker, Association of College and Research Libraries, American Library Association, published July 2013, available from http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/flipped_classrooms.

[9] “7 Things You Should Know About…™ Flipped Classrooms,” EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, (Washington, DC: EDUCAUSE, 2012), available from http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about....