A flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning. It aims to increase student engagement and learning by having pupils complete readings at home, and work on live problem-solving during class time. This pedagogical style moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom. With a flipped classroom, students watch online lectures, collaborate in online discussions, or carry out research at home, while actively engaging concepts in the classroom with a mentor's guidance.
In traditional classroom instruction, the teacher is typically the leader of a lesson, the focus of attention, and the primary disseminator of information during the class period. The teacher responds to questions while students refer directly to the teacher for guidance and feedback. Many traditional instructional models rely on lecture-style presentations of individual lessons, limiting student engagement to activities in which they work independently or in small groups on application tasks, devised by the teacher. The teacher typically takes a central role in class discussions, controlling the conversation's flow. Typically, this style of teaching also involves giving students the at-home tasks of reading from textbooks or practicing concepts by working, for example, on problem sets.
The flipped classroom intentionally shifts instruction to a learner-centered model, in which students are often initially introduced to new topics outside of school, freeing up classroom time for the exploration of topics in greater depth, creating meaningful learning opportunities. With a flipped classroom, 'content delivery' may take a variety of forms, often featuring video lessons prepared by the teacher or third parties, although online collaborative discussions, digital research, and text readings may alternatively be used. The ideal length for a video lesson is widely cited as eight to twelve minutes.Greg Topp (6 Oct 2011), "Flipped classrooms take advantage of technology", USA Today
Flipped classrooms also redefine in-class activities. In-class lessons accompanying flipped classroom may include activity learning or more traditional homework problems, among other practices, to engage students in the content. Class activities vary but may include: using math manipulatives and emerging mathematical technologies, in-depth laboratory experiments, original document analysis, debate or speech presentation, current event discussions, peer reviewing, project-based learning, and skill development or concept practiceBergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: reach every student in every class every day. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education. Because these types of active learning allow for highly differentiated instruction,Alvarez, B. (2011). "Flipping the classroom: Homework in class, lessons at home" . Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed For Quick Review, 77 (8): 18–21. more time can be spent in class on higher-order thinking skills such as problem-finding, collaboration, design and problem solving as students tackle difficult problems, work in groups, research, and construct knowledge with the help of their teacher and peers.Bennett, B., Spencer, D., Bergmann, J., Cockrum, T., Musallam, R., Sams, A., Fisch, K., & Overmyer, J. (2013). "The flipped classroom manifest" .
A teacher's interaction with students in a flipped classroom can be more personalized and less didactic and students are actively involved in knowledge acquisition and construction as they participate in and evaluate their learning.
History
Militsa Nechkina, a member of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, first proposed the flipped classroom model in 1984. In the 1980s and 1990s, teachers in Russia tried this instructional strategy. "...let pupils extract new things from autonomous reading of a textbook, which has been created accordingly. Allow them to consider it, then discuss it with their teacher at school and come to a united conclusion." Nechkina wrote of the flipped classroom.
In 1993, Alison King published "From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side," in which she focuses on the importance of the use of class time for the construction of meaning rather than information transmission. While not directly illustrating the concept of "flipping" a classroom, King's work is often cited as an impetus for an inversion to allow for the educational space for active learning.
Harvard professor Eric Mazur played a significant role in the development of concepts influencing flipped teaching through the development of an instructional strategy he called peer instruction. Mazur published a book in 1997 outlining the strategy, entitled Peer Instruction: A User's Manual. He found that his approach, which moved information transfer out of the classroom and information assimilation into the classroom, allowed him to coach students in their learning instead of lecturing.Eric Mazur (1997). Peer Instruction: A User's Manual Series in Educational Innovation. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJC. Crouch & E. Mazur (2001). Peer Instruction: Ten Years of Experience and Results, Am. J. Phys., v69, 970–977
Lage, Platt and Treglia published a paper entitled "Inverting the Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment" (2000), which discusses their research on flipped classrooms at the college level. In their research focusing on two college economics courses, Lage, Platt, and Treglia assert that one can leverage the class time that becomes available from the inversion of the classroom (moving information presentation via lecture out of the classroom to media such as computers or VCRs) to meet the needs of students with a wide variety of learning styles.Maureen Lage, Glenn Platt, Michael Treglia (2000), Inverting the Classroom: A gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment, Journal of Economic Education The University of Wisconsin-Madison deployed software to replace lectures in large lecture-based computer science course with streaming video of the lecturer and coordinated slides. In the late 1990s, J. Wesley Baker was experimenting with these same ideas at Cedarville University. He presented a paper discussing what he termed the "classroom flip" at an education conference in the year 2000 in what may be the first published mention of the word "flip" associated with this model of teaching and learning.Baker, J.W. "The 'Classroom Flip": Using Web course management tools to become the Guide by the Side." In J. A. Chambers (Ed.), Selected papers from the 11th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning (2000), pp. 9–17. Jacksonville, FL: Florida Community College at Jacksonville.
Kaw and Hess published a paper in 2007 to compare the effectiveness of four (4) instructional modalities for a single topic of a ATEM course -(i) traditional lecture, (ii) blended (what they called "Web-enhanced lecture"), (iii) Web-based self-study and (iv) flipped (what they called "Web-based self-study and classroom discussion"). Statistical analysis of the assessment data indicated that the second modality, in which Web-based modules for instruction were used during face-to-face lecture delivery mode, resulted in higher levels of student performance and satisfaction.
A recognizable contributor to the flipped classroom is Salman Khan. In 2004, Khan began recording videos at the request of a younger cousin he was tutoring because she felt that recorded lessons would let her skip segments she had mastered and replay parts that were troubling her.Clive Thompson (15 Jul 2011), "How Khan Academy is Changing the Rules of Education", WiredSarah D. Sparks (28 Sep 2011), Lectures Are Homework in Schools Following Khan Academy Lead Based on this model, Salman Khan founded Khan Academy, which some associate with the flipped classroom; however, these videos are only one form of the flipped classroom strategy.Sams, Aaron (11 November 2011). "The Flipped Class: Shedding Light on the Confusion, Critique, and Hype" . The Daily Riff. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
The Wisconsin Collaboratory for Enhanced Learning has built two centers to focus on flipped and blended learning. The classroom structure houses technology and collaboration-friendly learning spaces, and emphasis for those involved in the program is placed on individualized learning through non-traditional teaching strategies such as flipped classroom."Home | Wisconsin Collaboratory for Enhanced Learning | University of Wisconsin–Madison". Wiscel.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
To decrease student resistance, Clark, Kaw and Braga Gomes have used adaptive learning in the pre-class preparation for flipped classrooms. Because adaptive learning reduces student time and ensures required mastery learning, the flipped classroom became more favorable and decreased perception of responsibility.
Educational researchers have noted that the flipped classroom model draws on earlier pedagogical approaches such as constructivism, active learning, and peer instruction. These approaches emphasize student engagement and the use of class time for collaborative problem solving. This formed a foundation for flipped learning.
COVID-19 Pandemic Recently, a group of researchers have also stated the importance of hybrid-flipped classroom strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic in imparting online education, particularly in context of developing economies. Authors describe that the hybrid-flipped classroom strategy is expected to benefit a larger learner-instructor community during the pandemic.
A 2021 Nature Humanities & Social Sciences Communications study found that students in a flipped learning environment during the COVID‑19 pandemic reported significant increases in both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. They also had improved perceptions of their own learning. The flipped model, which is built around pre‑class videos and small‑group activities, was valued for its practical and interactive components. Students rated this as the most effective part of the course. The study also showed that students that already had experience in flipped learning benefited more. It reported higher motivation and more positive reactions to videos, quizzes, and group work. The authors noted persistent challenges such as unequal access to technology, digital skill gaps, and anxiety to remote learning conditions. Overall, the article highlighted how flipped learning supported engagement during pandemic while also revealing the technological and psychological barriers that shaped the students' experiences.
In practice Woodland Park High School chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams began practicing flipped teaching at the high school level when, in 2007, they recorded their lectures and posted them online to accommodate students who missed their classes. They note that one person cannot be credited with having invented the inverted or flipped classroom, and assert that there is no one 'right' way to flip a classroom as approaches and teaching styles are diverse, as are needs of schools. They went on to develop the "Flipped-Mastery" model and wrote extensively about it in their book Flip Your Classroom.