Building a Cooperative Learning Environment in a Flipped Classroom

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INTRODUCTION

The learning environment in higher education has changed drastically in the past several years. A literature review identifies significant changes in learning models and the learning environment as reported widely in recent research. Relevant best practices are described in the first part of this research paper. Courses are evolving into hybrid course models, blending online and classroom activities, flipping classes with experiential learning in the classroom, and sometimes including an integrated lab component often with collaborative student groups (Schreurs, 2013.).The assessment of quality in higher education includes ever-more personalized measurement of how students learn best. Leaders who are trying to make sense of emerging innovations should understand that these changes in higher education do not necessarily require a complete overhaul. The learning tools and platforms created today are both transformative and accumulative. A look to the future finds an expansion of the “anytime, anywhere” learning ethos that has already gained a foothold in academe and among entrepreneurial providers. The power of technology on college and university campuses in the future might happen behind the scenes with the expanding use of Big Data to help students and institutions make better decisions (Jeffrey J. Selingo & Ben Wildavsky, 2015.)Although the traditional lecture model prevails in higher education as the most popular teaching method, recent technological advances make blended or hybrid learning classrooms possible. In the blended or hybrid model, students learn at least in part via an online delivery of course content. In a flipped classroom, also known as an inverted classroom, a type of blended learning approach is used whereby traditional lectures are moved outside of the classroom through the use of online videos. A growing number of faculty in higher education have begun using the flipped classroom model in their courses. The availability of online videos helps students learn topics that are difficult to explain in a standard lecture. The availability of online videos helps students learn topics that are difficult to explain in a standard lecture. Knowledge transmission is delivered through videos that students view outside of an in-house classroom. Classroom time is then freed up so that the instructor may challenge students using more forms of active learning than what is usually employed in lectures. Although the flipped classroom is particularly well-suited for an active learning methodology, it is also acknowledged that traditional lecture-based courses may also benefit from incorporated active learning components (Cavanagh, 2011)Flipped ClassroomA flipped classroom is one in which students are instructed outside of the classroom (e.g., using the video lectures mentioned above) and do “homework” or enrichment activities inside the classroom, once they have learned the material. Specifically, a flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. Short video lectures or instructional materials are viewed by students at home before the class session, while in-class time is devoted to exercises, projects, or discussions.The concept of a flipped classroom utilizes methodologies including: active learning, student engagement, hybrid course design, and course podcasting. In a traditional educational model, how students interact with each other is oftentimes a neglected aspect of instruction. Instructors devote the majority of their preparation time arranging for interactions between students and the materials (i.e., textbooks, curriculum programs). Instructors do not emphasize the time spent interacting with their students or how students should interact with one another. The value of a flipped class is in the repurposing of class time into a workshop where students can inquire about lecture content, test their skills in applying mastered knowledge, and interact with one another in hands-on activities.