Traditional Learning Vs. Flipped Learning

When I first started teaching, my lessons were largely structured around note-taking from a PowerPoint slide mixed with classroom discussions.

As a new teacher, I was finding it increasingly challenging to not only ensure that my learners could understand a new concept but also practice higher-level skills, like evaluating and analysing, within the lesson time.

Previously, I used a more traditional approach because it was familiar and seemed effective, however, there was never enough time for deeper discussions of the topics, and less of the lesson was going into my learner’s long-term memory.

That's when a colleague told me about the flipped learning teaching method. 

What is Flipped Learning?

In contrast to more traditional teaching approaches, such as lecture style and note-taking, flipped learning shifts the learning of subject content outside the classroom or tuition session. This means that learners come to the lesson having attempted to self-teach the content already.

At the start of a lesson, they have a baseline understanding of the topic and are ready to engage in applying their knowledge. The student then practices higher-order thinking skills, including applying concepts to novel scenarios, thinking creatively and critically or comparing them to previously learned concepts. 

This pedagogical style massively reduces the amount of time dedicated to the lesson for writing down definitions or key theories. Critically, by using the flipped learning method, the teacher is not just assuming that their learners have complete comprehension of the content, and so typically, the newly acquired knowledge will be recapped and assessed at the start of the lesson. 

For example, the teacher may use a low-stakes knowledge quiz to ascertain how well their learners understand the theory from their pre-reading. The flipped learning approach is adaptable to both group-based and individual learning situations. 

For online tutoring, reading ahead of the topic as homework can ensure that more of the valuable lesson time is spent on looking at exam techniques and how to gain the most marks with a tutor rather than just going over the content itself.

How I Use Flipped Learning

Typically, A-levels are comprised of lots of theories and concepts that must be retained, recalled, applied, and evaluated. Effective evaluation is a skill that needs to be guided through and practiced by a more knowledgeable person (the teacher). 

Therefore, with the pressure of time and the need to meet all of the specification points, the flipped approach has been very useful in ensuring that my learners have ample lesson time to develop their evaluation and application skills, with me present to provide active feedback.

Here is an example of a typical psychology lesson I teach: 

Before the lesson: 

Pre-reading: my learners are given 1-2 pages of the topic to read and take notes in their books. For example, if we were learning about the biological approach, I would ask my learners to read the textbook page and note down the key definitions, such as genotype and phenotype. These notes are brought to the next lesson, where they will be used as the foundation of the active learning tasks. 

Lesson time: 

At the beginning of the lesson, I always start with my learners getting out their relevant notes and engaging with a recap of previous learning, and asking them how it might relate (or not) to the new topic. 

This could be a series of questions answered independently or a table discussion, such as what they found interesting or confusing from their pre-reading. 

After the discussion, feedback is obtained through questioning, and once we have recapped the key concepts and I am confident that any misconceptions have been discussed and resolved, we move on and begin applying that knowledge. 

In psychology, there is a heavy emphasis on the learner’s ability to apply the concepts to novel scenarios, which can be challenging to write about and achieve high marks for. As we don’t need to write down and learn about the concepts for the first time, my learners and I can spend more time perfecting this application skill with a variety of scenarios. 

Once we have completed a series of different scenarios, the final skill that is worked on in the lesson time is evaluation, which has more marks up for grabs in the exam. Effective evaluation is also a challenging skill to master in psychology because any evaluation point can be a strength or a limitation, depending on the angle from which it is argued. 

Therefore, because we have more lesson time, I can engage in my learners’ writing structure and essays to ensure that they are adding more depth to their evaluations, such as exploring the reasons why something is a positive of a theory or whether there are any counterpoints to add. 

The flipped learning approach also allows me to focus more time on the learners who are struggling the most whilst also ensuring that more confident learners have the freedom to work at a faster pace.

Overall, this approach has benefits in improving learner attainment, both in the classroom and in online tutoring sessions, by spending more time solidifying knowledge and allowing learners to actively learn rather than sit and listen.

Traditional method versus the flipped method

Here is a more in-depth comparison of the two approaches from both the teacher’s and learner’s perspectives. 

Learner Engagement

It is far more beneficial for students to attempt to understand new content themselves at least once to exercise their logical reasoning skills and rationalise new concepts in their way of thinking, compared to having it narrated to them.

With the traditional teaching approach, learner engagement is often more passive. This is due to more of the lesson time being taken up by learners listening to the teacher explaining the content, taking notes, and then later taking part in joint discussions. 

Some learners will be able to stay focused during these tasks, however, some may struggle with paying attention to what the teacher is saying whilst retaining and writing down the correct information. This leaves less time for application tasks, which may be set as homework where there isn’t immediate feedback from the teacher. 

In contrast, the flipped classroom has higher levels of engagement, and learners are more active. This is because the learners have already had some exposure to the content and are ready to engage in collaborative activities, ask questions and build on their knowledge. This is much harder to do when learning it for the first time.

This approach encourages deeper processing and critical thinking, as well as enabling learners to take more responsibility for their learning and increase lesson participation. 

The Teacher’s Role 

Every learner is a unique individual who will process the learning environment differently. Within one group of learners, a teacher will have some who are quicker at grasping the concepts and are ready to begin the higher-order skills, whilst others may need more time and structured support from the teacher. 

In comparison to the traditional method, the structure of the flipped classroom better enables teachers to take on the role of facilitator, who can guide discussions, check learning with questions, and support learners who are struggling. 

For example, as the learners have some base knowledge before the lesson, the teacher may differentiate the tasks to meet each learner’s needs during the lesson. Furthermore, in the flipped classroom, there is more time to provide feedback to ensure the learners receive immediate feedback to make improvements.     

With the traditional approach, a teacher may have to spend a significant amount of time presenting information in a lecturer style, which learners need to write down. Although the teacher has greater control of the lesson pace, practicing application and evaluation skills often occurs later on in the session, when there may be less time for deeper discussions. 

Deeper discussions during lesson time promote cognition by actively engaging learners to process and articulate their thoughts, which strengthens memory retention. 

Depth of Discussions

To gain marks in the exam, we are constantly using our long-term memory to retrieve information back to our short-term memory. 

For this process to occur more fluently and to remember the correct information, learners need to engage in deeper discussions to promote associations between the previously learned information and the new information. This relies on using our schemas, which are neural networks or ‘packages of information’ that help us to recall information after a period of repetitive practice. 

As there are more opportunities for deeper discussions in the flipped classroom, learners can strengthen their long-term memories. For example, engaging in classroom discussions promotes active processing, which enables learners to organise and articulate their thoughts. 

Furthermore, discussion-based activities boost critical thinking skills as they require learners to evaluate different perspectives and understand the connections between concepts. These higher-order skills strengthen a learner’s understanding and application skills. 

Finally, when learners engage in debate-based discussion activities, it ensures they are frequently using memories in the long-term memory store, promoting these memories for future access. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, there are many benefits of using the flipped learning method in the classroom and during private tutoring. Not only does it strengthen a learner’s neural connections and make accessing learned information quicker, but it also creates more time with the teacher to develop higher-order thinking skills, like analysing and evaluating. 

Flipped learning also ensures that the learners are more actively involved in their education, both inside and outside the classroom. This is achieved by consistently engaging in pre-reading tasks to bring to their class or private online tutoring session ready to ask and answer questions. 

Using flipped learning has transformed my teaching into a more learner-centered and active. By shifting from more traditional approaches, like using lecture slides, I have been able to involve my learners in the learning process and help them to achieve more.