The "Flipped Learning Approach" (FLA) was first coined by Lage et al. (2000) when they opined on the concept of "inverted learning". Therein they explain that inverting the classroom is an approach that occurs when “events that have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take place outside the classroom and vice versa” (Lage et al., 2000, p. 30-43). Of course, words like ‘inverted’ and ‘flipped’ can have different connotations and thus it has subsequently been noted that varying interpretations of this definition can create the idea of unstructured classroom design (Eppard & Rochdi, 2017).

To counter common misconceptions and bring clarity to discussions about “Flipped Learning,” the governing board and key leaders of the Flipped Learning Network (FLN) announced a formal definition of the term. Flipped Learning is defined as "a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter" (FLN, 2014, p.1). The video below aptly describes the flipped classroom model:

Faculty Innovation Center, UTA (2013, July 23) The Flipped Classroom Model [Video File]. Retrieved from https://facultyinnovate.utexas.edu/flipped-classroom

Abeysekera and Dawson (2015) provide a more succinct definition, foregrounding the active nature of what happens in class instead of merely focusing on the use of videos: “Flipped classroom approaches remove the traditional transmissive lecture and replace it with active in-class tasks and pre/post-class work” (p.1). The role of the teacher is switched "from sage on the stage to guide on the side," emphasizing the importance of the use of class time for the construction of meaning rather than information transmission.

[IN-CLASS ACTIVITY]

Group-work: work collaboratively to identify the experiences between a traditional class and flipped class from teacher and students' perspectives. Exchange your inputs with your peers and discuss which learning approach shows superiority and why.

[Comment]

Elaborate your takeaway on the description of the flipped classroom. What do you think the teacher's role switching "from sage on the stage to guide on the side"?

[Assignment]

1. Update: Try to flip one lesson this week and share your experience in the learning community of this workshop. What did you do to flip your classroom at the three phases, i.e. before class, during class, and after class? How did your students respond to the approach? Did you feel confused? What challenges have you encountered while flipping your classroom? 

2. Review the updates online and comment on at least 3 other colleagues' updates.

Regarding constructivism, Piaget (1978) focused on how humans make meaning in relation to the interaction between their experiences and their ideas. His ‘constructivist’ views tended to focus on human development in relation to what is occurring with an individual from development influenced by other persons. In line with his views, learners' collaboration, interaction, and engagement in the flipped classroom fully reveals the practice of constructivism in learning. Thus the in-class flipped learning is described as utilizing active and problem-based learning activities that draw heavily from the constructivist approach.

In practice, when classes are flipped, in-class times that would have been used for face-to-face lectures are repurposed for other activities hitherto considered homework exercises and other engaging activities such as class projects, and discussions around issues arising from students’ interactions with the prescribed content (Tucker, 2012). The feature of social interaction in FLA is underpinned by Vygotsky's theory of social constructivism which emphasizes the importance of sociocultural learning. Vygotsky (1978) asserts that learning is a process that occurs when a learner is interacted and assisted by more skillful learners or instructors, and that learning is streamlined by cooperation inside the student's zone of proximal development (ZPD).

Figure 3. Zone of Proximal Development

 Vygotsky (1978) describes the ZPD as "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers" (p.34). Therefore, in the flipped classroom, when students are engaged beyond their current competency level in a problem-solving activity alongside a more proficient peer, qualitative and measurable learning takes place.

The ZPD is a useful concept for teachers. To ensure that students are learning in their ZPD, teachers must provide new opportunities for students to work slightly beyond their current skills and provide ongoing, scaffolded support to all students. 

To assist a person to move through the ZPD, educators are encouraged to focus on three important components which aid the learning process (McLeod, 2019):

• The presence of someone with knowledge and skills beyond that of the learner (a more knowledgeable other).
• Social interactions with a skillful tutor that allow the learner to observe and practice their skills.
• Scaffolding, or supportive activities provided by the educator, or a more competent peer, to support the student as he or she is led through the ZPD.

The following video explains how ZPD works in students' learning process:

TeachHub.com. (2019, Jan. 17). Zone of Proximal Development [Video file]. Youtube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/kTpn7LdcKZM

[Comment]

What role does the ZPD theory play in students' learning process? How do you define students' ZPD?

[Assignment]

1. Update: What can you do to incorporate the concept of ZPD into your flipped classroom to optimize students' learning at the stage of out-of-class (pre-class), in-class and post-class? 

2. Comment on at least 3 colleagues' updates. 

Extant literature connects FLA with Bloom's Taxonomy because FLA engages students to obtain and apply cognitive skills from lower-order thinking (outside of class) to higher-order thinking (in class). Bloom's Taxonomy provides a graphical depiction of the learning hierarchy and has become an indispensable reference as a classification system used to define and distinguish different levels of learning skills.

As new technology's development, learning has become more collaborative, innovative, and individualized. Practitioners within the field of education have thought of unique ways to connect digital tools with the framework of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, which has led to the emergence of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. The following video explains the progressive development of Bloom's Taxonomy:

Common Sense Education. (2016, Jul. 12). What is Bloom's Digital Taxonomy? [Video file]. Youtube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/fqgTBwElPzU

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy and FLA

Eppard and Rochdi (2017) state Bloom’s Taxonomy is relevant to FLA in that the transmission of information, which is the basis for learning, is obtained independently and outside of class; while the assimilation of information, which requires greater critical reasoning occurs during class under the guidance of an instructor or mentor. As figure 3 demonstrates, the higher the tier portrayed on the pyramid, the more assimilation is required; whereas, the lower the level, the more transmission of information occurs somewhat independently, but not completely. The areas in the middle may require a more balanced or less skewed combination of the two. The notion of describing flipped learning in terms of assimilation and transmission was highlighted by Talbert (2012).

Figure 4 provides a visualization of the transmission and assimilation of information connected to flipped learning. This version of Bloom’s Taxonomy is a newer version as developed by Anderson et al. (2001). Based on this version, the items listed in the taxonomy refer to the following:

• remembering - retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory;
• understanding - constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining;
• applying - carrying out or using a procedure through executing, or implementing;
• analyzing - breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing;
• evaluating - making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing;
• creating - putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing (p. 67-68).

Figure 4. Synthesis of the models and theories associated with Flipped Learning

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and FLA

The purpose of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy is to inform instructors of how to use technology and digital tools to facilitate student learning experiences and outcomes (Sneed, 2016).

Figure 5. Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

• Remembering – To recall facts, basic concepts, or retrieval of material. Tools – Bookmarking, copying, googling, bullet-pointing, highlighting, group networking, searching
• Understanding – To explain ideas, concepts, or construct meaning from written material or graphics. Tools – Advanced searching, annotating, blog journaling, tweeting, tagging, commenting, subscribing
• Applying – To use information in new situations such as models, diagrams, or presentations. Tools – Calculating, Charting, editing, hacking, presenting, uploading, operating, sharing with a group
• Analyzing – To draw connections among ideas, concepts, or determining how each part interrelate to an overall structure or purpose. Tools – Mashing, mind mapping, surveying, linking, validating
• Evaluating – To justify a stand or decision; to make judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing. Tools – Grading, networking, rating, testing, reflecting, reviewing, blog commenting, posting, moderating
• Creating –To produce new or original work. Tools – Animating, blogging, filming, podcasting, publishing, simulating, wiki building, video blogging, programming, directing  (Sneed, 2016).

Lightle (2011) states "Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy helps us navigate through the myriad digital tools and make choices based on the kinds of learning experiences we want students to engage in" (p.6). Selecting the most appropriate digital activity will depend on the activity’s level of difficulty tied to the cognitive levels stated within Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.

[Comment]

What role does Bloom's Taxonomy play in your teaching and lesson planning? What is your takeaway from Figure 4 regarding the transmission out of class and assimilation in-class derived from FLA?

[Assignment]

1. Update: List the technical tools you have used for each tier of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy. What tools will you use for out of class and in-class respectively while practicing FLA, and why?

2. Comment on at least 3 colleagues' posts.

Flipping instructional efforts and/or entire classes is seen by many as a phenomenon with the potential to revolutionize teaching and learning events beyond the traditional (Salifu, 2016). When done well, this makes flipped learning highly efficient, since differentiation occurs naturally and students are more likely to remain engaged.

The advantages of FLA can be discussed from the perspectives of both teacher and student.

Figure 6. Benefits of a Flipped Classroom

[Comment]

Compared with the traditional classroom, what benefits/advantages of the flipped classroom prompt you to give this pedagogical approach a try? Any other benefits you have seen or anticipate from the flipped classroom from the perspective of both teachers and students. 

[Assignment]

1. Update: Watch the following video which demonstrates the advantages of the flipped classroom model over traditional instruction. What benefits can you find from the showcase from both teacher and student's perspectives? Any problems in his flipped class you noticed? 

2. Comment on at least 3 colleagues' posts.

thomaspalmerphysics. (2013, Oct. 16). Showing the Differences between a Traditional and a Flipped Classroom [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/yzMFdDT6FSA

[Supplementary Material]

Read the linked article about the benefits of FLA (p.7-9)  

The notion of flipping a classroom has become very popular across different education levels and content areas worldwide. However, teachers who are inclined to flip their classrooms need to be very cautious with the pedagogy and technology being used because the flipped classroom requires the same attention to details and intentional instructional efforts as a traditional classroom. The idea of flipping a classroom is not enough; teachers should be aware of best practices and how to implement them for successful results.

7 STEPS for Efficient Flipped Learning

There are many ways to conduct a flipped class, but there are key principles needed to be incorporated in course design with FLA. The following seven steps of the flipped model are categorized by the four stages of FLA: 

Pre-Flip Stage

Step 1: Identify where the flipped classroom model makes the most sense for your course; Determine the technology that can best help you and your students, such as MS teams, Bookwidgets, Nearpod, Playposit, Padlet, and etc. (Note that Bookwidgets and Nearpod will be introduced in Module V.)

Step 2: Adapt your materials for students to acquire course content in preparation of class; You can either curate existing materials or create your own video and content, and keep it short and sweet. 

Out-of-Class Stage

Step 3: Make sure the learning materials are followed with meaningful and engaging homework materials. Note that some apps, such as Nearpod and Bookwidgets allow teachers to monitor students' performance in quizzes and provide students with immediate feedback or guidance.

The following video demonstrates how the UT instructors developed structures for students to engage in course content before class by either creating their own materials or curating what already exists and placing it online:

Media embedded June 16, 2020

Faculty Innovation Center (UT). (n.d.). How do you flip a class? [Video]. Retrieved from https://facultyinnovate.utexas.edu/how-to-flip

In-Class Stage

Step 4: Make your students accountable. One secret to success for the flipped learning is to make sure students come to class with the background information they need. Plan to start class with a brief assessment to make sure everyone is ready. In addition, give your students a chance to clear up confusion early in the lesson with an active Q&A session.

Step 5: Clarify connections between inside and outside of class learning. Begin with the end in mind. Integrate the learning objectives into inside and outside of classroom. Make sure the tasks designed for in-class are highly engaging and closely connected with the content students learned outside of class. 

Step 6: Spend class time engaging students in higher-order thinking activities with feedback. True flipped learning turns classroom time into a more individualized experience. Instead of an instructor addressing all students as a group, learners move at their own pace or in small groups to apply their knowledge in hands-on ways; this allows for a more differentiated experience overall.

The following video illustrates the in-class stage of flipped learning:

Media embedded June 16, 2020

Faculty Innovation Center (UT). (n.d.). How do you flip a class? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://facultyinnovate.utexas.edu/how-to-flip

Post-Class Stage

Step 7: Extend learning beyond class through individual and collaborative practice. Make good use of social media to engage students into collaborative learning to stimulate their communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills. Conclude with an assessment or peer-feedback before moving on to the new learning materials (Faculty Innovation Center, n.d.).

[Comment]

On what topics would your students benefit from the flipped class the most under your expert guidance in the classroom?

[Assignment]

1. Update: Please refer to the linked article "How do You Flip a Class?" and come up with your thoughts to connect your teaching planning with each step at the four stages introduced in this module.  While planning the flipped class, what challenges or concerns do you anticipate? You will have an opportunity to share your post with your teammates and facilitator during the in-class time. 
2. Comment on at least 3 colleagues' posts.

[Supplementary Materials]

4 Pillars of F-L-I-P 

A Beginner's Guide to Flipped Classroom

BookWidgets is an online platform that allows instructors to create interactive lessons. Their digital template library has more than 40 different widgets in five categories: Test & Review; Games; Pictures & Video; Meth; Embedded third party; and Miscellaneous. After creating the lesson design, instructors share a link with students and they can start working individually or from home. For assessment, Bookwidgets includes the "grades and reporting" element that allows instructors to track student's results instantly. Watch the following video for a brief introduction about how to create and distribute an interactive lesson using Bookwidgets. 

BookWidgets. (2016) How to create your own interactive digital lessons with BookWidgets. [Video] Retrieved Jun16, 2020 from: https://youtu.be/tPOHxR0prKQ

In Module IV: How to Flip?, we discuss the 7 steps of creating a flipped classroom. BookWidgets supports the FLA concept in different stages: preparing lessons, distributing lessons to students, evaluating student participation and knowledge. Read more about how BookWidgets can be used in a flipped classroom in the following web source (BookWidgets, 2016)

Flipping the Classroom: Using BookWidgets to Set Up a Flipped Classroom

In addition, BookWidgets has a wide application especially with the integration with Learning Management Systems such as Google Classroom, Canvas, iBook, Moodle, Schoology and Apple Schoolwork. Explore the following web source for the application of BookWidgets in a Flipped Classroom

[Comment]

BookWidgets have been criticized for the lower-level thinking application. Do you agree? Why?

[Assignment]

1. Create a Bookwidgets free account and explore the templates 

2. Read section 3 of the recent study (Menon, 2019) that analyzes the Bookwidget templates under test & review, games, and miscellaneous. Compare the content and your own experience with Bookwidgets, choose one of the following topics to reflect in your update entry.

Designing Online Materials for Blended Learning: Optimising on BookWidgets

a. How do you find the widgets under Test & Review useful in your lesson design? Can you think of any other functions that should be developed as a widget? Explain your creative idea and how that can enhance learning.

b. How do you find the game widgets applicable to adult language learners in the CE setting? Can you think of a creative application to use any of the game widgets for higher levels?

c. Menon (2019) claims "The term ‘miscellaneous’ is often misleading, for it makes one think that these widgets are not related to the teaching/ learning set up. But, on closer analysis, one finds that these widgets (particularly, three of them) are more related to planning and evaluation than to the actual teaching process (p.172). Do you agree with his analysis? Present an example of your design that applies one of the "miscellaneous" widgets in planning and evaluation.

3. Comment on at least three colleagues' updates.

[Suppelimentry Materials]

For a more foreign language instruction focused training on the widgets application, you can also watch the recording of a workshop titled "Creating an Interactive Virtual Learning Environment with Widgets" (DLIFLC, 2020) offered by DLI Faculty Development. Experienced instructors share their knowledge and demonstrate through examples of innovative activities made with various types of widgets in Bookwidgets.

(DLI login required)

Creating an Interactive Virtual Learning Environment with Widgets

What is Nearpod?

Nearpod is an engagement tool that allows easy creation of interactive content such as Virtual Field Trips, Collaborate boards, Quizzes, Polls, Matching Pairs activities + more. Teachers can send content to student devices in real-time and students have the opportunity to send teachers responses to questions in various forms. Similar to BookWidgets, Within the context of FLA, the following resource classify the role of Nearpod in course preparation, course process, and assessment:

Using Nearpod to Support Blended and Flipped Learning

Watch a video for the Nearpod (free version) review from a teacher:

Bethany Petty. (2015) Nearpod Review. [Video] Retrieved Jun. 14, 2020, from: https://youtu.be/Potta_y4ZOQ

[Case Study]

Seitan et al. (2020) in their recent study proposes an FLA model integrating Nearpod as one of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. The findings reveal the effectiveness of the flipped learning approach in terms of the students’ academic achievement. In addition, the students in the experimental group presented positive attitudes towards peers, teachers, learning environment, and process.

Figure 7. FLA model with ICT

Read the study to learn more about the course design:

The Impact of Integrating Flipped Learning and Information and Communication Technology

[Comments] 

Through your experience and research, what are the Pros and Cons of Nearpod? 

[Assignment]

1. Create a free Nearpod account.
2. Choose one of the features in Nearpod to 1/ analyze the applicability in FLA; or 2/ design an activity with FLA principle.
3. Share your experience and thinking process in creating the object or assignment in the Update.
4. Comment on 3 other colleagues' updates.

ThingLink focuses on the development of visual learning experience in the cloud. The effects of virtual aids have arguments including (Koivula, 2020)

• Humans remember pictures better than words (the “picture superiority effect”) 
• Multisensory experience triggers simultaneous associations.
• Virtual tours expand our fields of perception from physical to digital.

Creating a ThingLink presentation starts with uploading an image, then make the content more engaging by adding notes, sounds, narrations, videos, quizzes or any other media. Instructors can use the tool to create interactive multimodal learning content. On the other hand, using ThingLink as the platform for assignments emboldens students' higher thinking skills such as connecting ideas or digital storytelling. ThingLink also supports 360-degree videos and virtual reality. Watch the following video for a brief introduction of how to create a meaningful learning content using ThingLink:

Russell Stannard (Teacher Training Videos). (2017). ThingLink-Quick and complete introduction #ThingLink. Retrieved June 16, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QDFp0cfamQ

[Case Study]

USING THINGLINK DIGITAL POSTERS IN TEACHING ESP TO BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS STUDENTS (A CASE STUDY OF BAUMAN MOSCOW STATE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY)

Inozemtseva et al. (2018) implement ThingLink as Digital Posters for the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course. In their ESP course, some of the conceptual theories related to the subjects (Business and Economics) such as "decontextualized theoretical issues ...can be only visualized using graphs at best" (Inozemtseva et al., 2018). Therefore the study chooses the Digital Posters model using Thinglink as the media to facilitate the learning process:

When being taught ESP in ‘English only’ format, without using L1 as an intermediary, Business and Economics students have to struggle with understanding profession-oriented lesson content and have a problem of acquiring specific vocabulary found in research journals and websites. Creation of a topic-specific DP for ESP teacher presentation is supposed to facilitate specific language acquisition, widen students’ knowledge about a curricular topic, promote ‘teacher-student’ communication capacity and cultivate general students’ interest in study.....(Inozemtseva et al., 2018)

Each DP includes a topic-specific BBC audio, TED Talks videos, and design assignments to check students’ comprehension. A ready-made Quizlet puzzles game is also used for student self-assessment. In the practice, the study found out that the enriched DPs provide more opportunities to the ESP students to discuss about the videos, listen to the pronunciation of the native speakers, play games and source related information. 

Ample ThingLink examples are available online shared by educators and instructional design experts. For the ideas of using ThingLink in the language classroom, the following video introduces several practical examples including simple vocabulary activity, enriched reading material/ diagram, collaborative information searching activity and case study:

Learning Bites. (2018) Using Thinglink with Language Students. [Video] Retrieved Jun 12, 2020, from: https://youtu.be/5gjjDqxCgXg

[Comments]

Considering DLI students' learning goal in reading comprehension, what is your opinion on the role of enriched images or interactive images in your classroom?

[Assignment]

1. Access the ThingLink app via MS Teams which is available for all DLI faculty
2. Create an interactive learning object with at least 5 enrichments; or design an assignment requiring students to use ThingLink
3. Share your experience and thinking process in creating the object or assignment in the Update entry
4. Comment on 3 other participants' Update entry

What is Project-Based Instruction (PBI)/ Project-Based Learning (PBL)?

The fundamental difference between traditional learning and project-based learning is the ownership of learning. The traditional learning is teacher-centered. The teacher takes full control of students and the goal of learning for students is memorizing and regurgitating what the teacher said. However, project-based learning is student-centered. Students engage themselves in projects by applying the knowledge into real-life tasks. The following video illustrates how project-based learning works in a foreign language classroom:

Kaplan International Languages. (2019, Jun. 11). Real English - Project-based Learning.[Video file]. Youtube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/QC0JeAXHCv8

Markham (2011) describes that "PBL integrates knowing and doing. Students learn knowledge and elements of the core curriculum, but also apply what they know to solve authentic problems and produce results that matter. PBL students take advantage of digital tools to produce high quality, collaborative products. PBL refocuses education on the student, not the curriculum—a shift mandated by the global world, which rewards intangible assets such as drive, passion, creativity, empathy, and resiliency. These cannot be taught out of a textbook, but must be activated through experience."

The Benefits of PBI

Most studies show that project-based learning can help students:

1. Increase academic achievement
2. Increase application and retention of information
3. Increase creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking skills.

5 Principles to High-Quality PBI

PBI has to be very carefully scaffolded to optimize its’ benefits and minimize the limitations to students. There are myriad ways to approach and implement PBI, but all the high-quality PBI is perpetuated with the following 5 essential keys.  Purdue University demonstrates its successful practices in accordance with the 5 principles:

Edutopia. (2014, June. 26). Five Keys to Rigorous Project-Based Learning [video file]. Youtube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/hnzCGNnU_WM

The 5 Keys to rigorous PBI illustrated in the video are (edutopia, 2014):

1. Establishing Real-World Connections in Projects

Students are more engaged when learning relates directly to the world they live in. See how to extend your projects beyond the classroom walls.

Building Rigorous Projects That Are Core to Learning

2. Building Rigorous Projects That Are Core to Learning

Project-based learning doesn't mean leaving standards behind. Follow these tips to plan projects that challenge your students and align with core learning goals.

3. Structuring Collaboration for Student Success

PBL provides a unique opportunity to help students practice critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. Learn how to optimize the environment for teamwork in your classroom.

4. Facilitating Learning in a Student-Driven Environment

When they are directly involved in planning and steering projects, students are more invested in their learning. Get ideas for empowering your students to work independently.

5. ​Embedding Assessment Throughout the Project

Assessment can be integrated seamlessly into project-based learning. Find tools for measuring student understanding from the beginning to the end of a project.

[Comment]

What's the fundamental difference between traditional learning and PBI? Have you encountered any challenges while practicing PBI? What other approaches do you know can engage students in developing their problem-solving and critical thinking skills? 

[Assignment] 

Group Collaborative Task: Work with your assigned teammates to come up with a project-based activity for the flipped class that must promote higher-order thinking skills. You need to align your class desi with the 5 keys to PBI introduced in this module. Present how you are going to integrate PBI into your flipped class. Your presentation will be evaluated with the peer-review survey.

[Supplementary materials]

1. Project-based learning in the classroom - 9 Amazing apps for PBL [video] 

2. Gold Standard PBL: Project Based Teaching Practices 

3. Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements 

What is Productive Failure-based Flipped Classroom?

New and slightly different versions of flipped classrooms have evolved over the years. "Productive failure-based FLA" is one of the examples. Kapur (2015) defines productive failure as "a learning design that affords students opportunities to generate representations and solutions to a novel problem that targets a concept they have not learned yet, followed by consolidation and knowledge assembly where they learn the targeted concept" (Song & Kapur, 2017, p. 292).

Song and Kapur (2017) conducted a quasi-experimental study comparing the "traditional flipped classroom" (TFC) pedagogical design with the "productive failure-based flipped classroom" (PFFC) pedagogical design for a 2-week curricular unit on polynomials in a Hong Kong Secondary school. The following diagram illustrates the pedagogical designs of TFC and PFFC:

Figure 5. Pedagogical designs for TFC group and PFFC group

Different from the TFC where students are provided video lectures to study at home before solving problems in class, the PFFC works the other way around. With the aid of technologies, students explored, discussed and solved problems related to the new concepts first in class even though they might come across failures, followed by consolidating the concepts and associated procedures using video clips at home. Findings show that "both classes had significant improvement in procedural knowledge. However, regarding conceptual knowledge, students in the 'productive failure' condition performed better than those in the traditional flipped classroom" (Song & Kapur, 2017). This suggests that the "productive failure-based flipped classroom" pedagogical design may be better able to improve students' problem-solving skills. 

Productive Failure Theory

Dr. Kapur describes the concept of "productive failure" in the following video:

TEDx Talks. (2019, Dec.2). Productive Failure | Manu Kapur | TEDxLugano. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/VOKJmg34wME

Benefits of Productive Failure Theory in Teaching

1. By first grappling with the problem, students might better recognize its deep features.
2. Attempting to solve the problem activates the prior knowledge networks within students’ minds (often known as ‘schemas’) so that new learning fits into these networks appropriately.
3. Students become aware of the gaps in their knowledge and may become more focused on these gaps or more motivated to close them during later teaching (Ashman, 2016).

Conclusion

Ashman(2016) states that the PFFC pedagogical design may work for certain groups of mature learners better over others, but for novice learners, fully guided instruction is superior. In addition, the extant study about PFFC still maintains certain subjects, such as math. There is no sufficient study to prove its scalability in other subjects. While the version of FLA has evolved over the last decade, the goals of increased engagement and optimized class time are still present in all reiterations.

[Comment]

What do you think about the productive failure-based flipped classroom? Do you think the PFFC can be incorporated in your language classroom? Remember you were tasked to develop a flipped class in the first week of the training? That was a problem-based / PFFC activity. What implications did you get from the practice of PFF?

[Assignment]

1. Update: Use the PFFC pedagogical design model (as shown above in figure 5) as a format to develop a lesson you are going to teach this week. Markdown your students' performance at each stage while practicing the PFFC. Evaluate the PFFC with your own experience and share your outcomes with your colleagues. 

2. Comment on at least 3 colleagues' updates.

LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES

Though flipped learning can engage students more in autonomous learning and help develop students' critical thinking skills, many researchers bring up their concerns about this learning approach from the following perspectives:

Challenges from the Teacher's Perspective

The pioneers of FLA Bergmann and Sams (2012) argue teachers may find challenges with this model as well as students. Increased preparation time is initially likely needed, as creating high-quality videos requires teachers to contribute significant time and effort outside of regular teaching responsibilities. Sparks (2011) points out additional funding may also be required to procure training for teachers to navigate computer technologies involved in the successful implementation of the inverted model.

Challenges from the Students' Perspective

In the practice of FLA, student engagement and accountability are critical. Strayer (2012) states some students may struggle due to their developing personal responsibility. In a self-directed, home learning environment students who are not at the developmental stage required to keep on-task with independent learning may fall rapidly behind their peers. Others argue that adopting the FLA might be appropriate for certain subjects, courses, lessons or units, but might not be necessarily suitable for every educational context (Bergmann & Sams, 2012).

Abeysekera & Dawson (2015) believe the flipped classroom model is more dependent on students’ motivation than the ‘traditional’ model. Students need to be motivated to complete out-of-class assignments, such as watching a video, exploring a website, or completing readings. Students who are not motivated are more likely to fall behind their peers when they fail to complete the assigned preparatory tasks prior to attending classes (Siegle, 2014).

Challenges from the Pedagogical Perspective

One of the benefits of the FLA is to foster students' higher-order thinking skills by engaging them to do activities in-class to promote their analyzing, evaluating and creating skills. However, Allen (2014) addresses some of the limitations of flipped learning, for example, higher-order thinking skills cannot be taught outside the classroom since abstract ideas and skills need scaffolding from an instructor. Strayer (2007) also concludes that the class activities may need to be less open-ended and more step-by-step and students should be given an opportunity to reflect on their own learning.

In a comparative study between the flipped classroom and traditional classroom, Strayer (2007) finds that students participating in his flipped classroom were less satisfied with the teaching format than students in his traditional classroom. Though the students preferred the high level of innovation and enjoyed sharing knowledge through collaborative learning in the classroom, they were less satisfied with the structure of the course (learning tasks that weren’t clearly defined). The variety of learning activities delivered in the flipped classroom contributed to a sense of unsettledness for them. They could not cope with the activities and absorb the content fully compared to their peers in the traditional classroom.

NAVIGATING THE PITFALLS

• Ensure that students can reach you outside of the face-to-face classroom through email or a learning management system
• Help students form afterschool study groups for better accountability and collaborative learning
• Hold students responsible for their outside learning by grading participation and access

[Comment]

Can you flip your class through the whole course? When do you think is the most appropriate timing to incorporate flipped classroom into your instruction? and why?

[Assignment]

1. Update: What challenges have you seen while flipping your class? Please elaborate on the challenges from the perspectives of teachers and students. Any solutions to cope with the challenges?

2. Comment on at least 3 colleagues' posts.

Through the Update I - VI, we hope you have gained a comprehensive understanding of the FLA including the supporting theories, benefits and limitations, and the framework about how to apply the FLA with the educational technology tools. For the final project, you will create a two-hour lesson plan that uses at least one educational technology tool and one pedagogical model (not limited to the ones introduced in the modules) under the FLA principle. The lesson plan will include but not limited to the following elements:

1. the topic 
2. the objectives
3. the design rationale
4. the learning activities (pre-class, during-class, post-class)
5. the means of assessment

Final Project Check List:

1. Theoretical grounding: Is your lesson plan backed up by the FLA and its theoretical frameworks (Constructivism/ZPD and Bloom's Taxonomy)? How do you apply the FLA to achieve the learning objective and enhance the learning process? 
2. Application: Did you apply an educational technology tool and one pedagogical model and provide justification? Is the lesson appropriate to the CE students regarding age group, target language comprehension level, and learning goal?
3. Clarity: Does your lesson plan clearly illustrate your design concept in all elements? Do you define each phase and use the educational technology tool in a way that reflects the FLA?

Attached is the final project rubric and the link for peer-review feedback.  Peer-review Form

Final Project Rubric