Flipping PhysicsPaul Heiney

Department of Physics & Astronomy

The “Flipped” Model:•Lectures online (short videos)•Homework in class (with teacher assistance)

Physics 101, Summer 2012•Lectures, textbook online•Classroom “lecture” largely replaced by interactive exercises•Still some homework, but reduced•Same exams, labs as before

Physics 101•Introductory mechanics, mostly for premedical students•Academic year: 2-4 sections of 80-100•Summer session: typically 35-50 students

Online Before Class1) E-text readings assigned, with short quiz

Online Before Class2) On Canvas, 2-3 videos, each 7-12 minutes, with short quiz following

Mostly voiceover Powerpoint (use Screenflow), some short demonstrations (mostly self-filmed)I made 59 of these altogether during winter/spring 2012-2013.

Classroom Setup

Sit at round tables, café-style.

2 groups of 3 at each table.

Room incorporates computer with projector (onto multiple screens), smart whiteboard, whiteboard with camera, multiple “dumb” whiteboards.

Groups assigned by instructor, periodically rearranged.

Class of 35, had one teaching assistant in the room.

Formal roles within groups: manager, recorder, skeptic, (energizer)

Summer course—we had 2.5 hours with a break in the middle, 5 days per week.

Classroom Activities

Barrel of Fun

1. Choice One

2. Choice Two

3. Choice Three

4. Choice Four

5. Choice Five

6. Choice Six

A rider in a “barrel of fun” finds herself stuck with her back to the wall. Which diagram correctly shows the forces on her?

1) Sometimes very short (30-60 second) recap of videos. Sometimes short demonstrations.

2) 50% of class time: short, mostly qualitative, “clicker” questions. 3-5 minutes each, discuss in groups and then short classroom discussion.

Classroom Activities

3) Longer structured group activities—a more complicated problem, requiring some calculation, typically takes 30-45 minutes, group turns in written report. 1-3 of these in 2.5-hour period.

Classroom Activities

4) Every few days: group self-evaluation.

• As a group, which should we start doing that we are not now doing?

• What should we stop doing that we are now doing?• What should we continue doing the way we are doing it now?• Is the division of effort within the group equitable?

Outside of Class

1) Homework assignments: quantitative, individual. A little less than before because they also have to watch videos.

Outside of Class

2) Labs: 2.5 hours, twice a week, writeups done in lab.

Back in Class: Exams

4 midterm exams (1 hour) 1 final exam (2 hours)

Same style, format, difficulty as previous years.

Student performance same or better? Hard to judge, but certainly not worse.

Benefits Seen

1) Students highly engaged in class—remarked on by all visitors

2) Students benefit tremendously from interactions with other students—the “weaker” students learn strategies, and the “stronger” students benefit from the talking through their reasoning

3) Time spent with students is much more like office hours—one-on-one or one-on-six rather than delivering information to a large crowd

4) Student reaction generally positive

5) More fun for the instructor!

Challenges

1) A lot of work to prepare the videos, and some technical glitches

2) A few students do not like this approach (and it depends on which students you are working with)

3) Students cannot ask questions during “lecture”

4) Online quizzes were kinda dumb

5) Time management—sometimes the group exercises took too long and sometimes they finished very early

6) The teaching assistant is really necessary; need one “warm teaching body” for every 15-20 students.

7) The physical layout with tables is crucial—this would not work in an auditorium-type classroom. With current resources at Penn, we could not scale up large introductory classes to work this way.