Communication pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Introduction to the Spring 2014 ConfChem on the Flipped Classroom Chris Luker* Highland Local Schools, 4150 Ridge Road, Medina, Ohio 44256, United States
Jennifer Muzyka Centre College, 600 West Walnut Street, Danville, Kentucky 40422, United States
Robert Belford Downloaded by UNIV OF GEORGIA on September 10, 2015 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): July 21, 2015 | doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00024
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 South University Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204, United States S Supporting Information *
ABSTRACT: Students’ active engagement is one of the most critical challenges to any successful learning environment. The blending of active engagement along with rich, meaningful content is necessary for chemical educators to re-examine the purpose of the chemistry classroom. The Spring 2014 ConfChem conference, Flipped Classroom, was held from May 9 to June 12, 2014, and contained 8 papers and a poster session discussing a variety of ways to engage students within a flipped learning approach to the classroom. This communication introduces the conference, suggests that the flipped classroom is a growing trend, and invites readers to engage in further discussions on how technology can be leveraged to transform the face-to-face practice with our students. KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, First-Year Undergraduate/General, General Public, Collaborative/Cooperative Learning, Computer-Based Learning, Internet/Web-Based Learning, Conferences, Student-Centered Learning, Curriculum, Chemical Education Research he flipped classroom, where students access content online outside of class and perform homework-type activities during class, is an area of active innovation in the practice of chemical education. In response to this interest, the Spring 2014 open-access online ConfChem conference1 was held on this topic. The conference was held from May 9 to June 12, 2014, when eight papers and a poster session were discussed online. The conference had over 12,000 page hits, with 200 comments posted and shared (by e-mail) with a list of 850 participants. This communication introduces the Flipped Classroom ConfChem, and the following 8 communications describe each of the papers (and poster session), with the actual papers and discussions being uploaded to each communication as Supporting Information. One author was not able to submit a communication, and that paper, “Flipping a Class: The Learn by Doing Method”, is included as Supporting Information with this communication. The papers listed below were presented during the Spring 2014 ConfChem. (1) Student Engagement with Flipped Chemistry Lectures, Michael Seery, Dublin Institute of Technology. (2) Support for Experiments in Flipping: Time-Saving Resources Aligned with Cognitive Science, Eric Nelson, Fairfax County Public Schools (retired), Donald Dahm, Rowan University, and Judith Ann Hartmann, United States Naval Academy. (3) Reclaiming Face Time: How an Organic Chemistry Flipped Classroom Provided Access to Increased Guided Engagement, Bridget Trogden, Mercer University
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© 2015 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
(4) Using a Blog To Flip the Classroom, January Haile, Centre College. (5) Flipping at an Open-Enrollment College, Kelly Butzler, Pennsylvania College of Technology. (6) Flipping a Class: The Learn by Doing Method, Steven Slezak, California Polytechnic State University. (7) Improving Student Engagement in Organic Chemistry Using the Inverted Classroom Model, Robert Rossi, Rowan College at Gloucester County. (8) Just-In-Time Teaching in Organic Chemistry, Jennifer Muzyka, Centre College (9) Virtual Poster Session (a) A Year of Organic Chemistry Group Work with iPads, by Justin Houseknecht, Wittenberg University. (b) Implementing Peer Instruction in a Flipped General Chemistry Classroom, by Matthew Stoltzfus, The Ohio State University. (c) Can Flipping Introduce New Cognitive Artifacts to the Classroom?, by Robert E. Belford, University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
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WHY A CONFCHEM ON THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM? In the 1986 comedy “Ferris Buehler’s Day Off”,2 Ben Stein portrays an economics teacher who gives a monotonous and Published: July 21, 2015 1564
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00024 J. Chem. Educ. 2015, 92, 1564−1565
Downloaded by UNIV OF GEORGIA on September 10, 2015 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): July 21, 2015 | doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00024
Journal of Chemical Education
Communication
(2) Hughes, J. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; Paramount Pictures: USA, 1986. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxPVyieptwA. (3) Paulson, D. R. Active Learning and Cooperative Learning in the Organic Chemistry Lecture Class. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 1136. (4) Hinde, R. J.; Kovac, J. Student Active Learning Methods in Physical Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 2001, 78, 93. (5) Kovac, J. Student Active Learning Methods in General Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 120. (6) Ebenezer, J. V. Making Chemistry Learning More Meaningful. J. Chem. Educ. 1992, 69 (6), 464. (7) Bergmann, J.; Sams, A. Flip your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day; International Society for Technology in Education: USA, 2012. (8) Bergmann, J.;Sams, A. Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Achievement;International Society for Technology in Education: USA, 2014. (9) Bretzmann, J. Flipping 2.0Practical Strategies for Flipping Your Class;Bretzmann Group: USA, 2013. (10) Flipped ClassroomSpring 2014 ConfChem Conference. http:// www.divched.org/content/confchem-online-conference-flippedclassroom (accessed Jan 2015). (11) Schultz, D.; Duffield, S.; Rasmussen, S. C.; Wageman, J. Effects of the Flipped Classroom Model on Student Performance for Advanced Placement High School Chemistry Students. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91, 1334−1339. (12) Christiansen, M. A. Inverted Teaching: Applying a New Pedagogy to a University Organic Chemistry Class. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91, 1845− 1850. (13) D’Angelo, J. G. Use of Screen Capture to Produce Media for Organic Chemistry. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91, 678−683. (14) American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education Committee on Computers in Chemical Education. http://www. confchem.ccce.divched.org/ (accessed Jan 2015).
mind-numbing lecture, which is depicted in the YouTube “Boring Economics Teacher”. The humor evidenced in Stein’s depiction provides a great example on how teaching has been treated in the past. Modern information and communication technologies have impacted this paradigm by narrowing the gap between who has knowledge and who has access to it, providing complex challenges for contemporary educators. As a result, a few questions immediately surface on how the modern classroom should reflect such progression and what types of roles the teacher can take to facilitate learning in the modern classroom. The Spring 2014 ConfChem started such a discussion among a group of chemical educators to address the role of the classroom and how it can change. The concerns among these chemical educators was similar to what has been echoed in the past;3−6 that is, how do we actively engage our students in the learning process? This task has been traditionally conflicted between engaging students and covering content, where covering content usually outweighs actively engaging students. In the search for a way to leverage technology to facilitate the content coverage while making the classroom more engaging, the flipped classroom has become an active area of educational innovation. The flipped classroom is not a revolutionary concept. It has been called many names and has roots in many different forms of hybrid and online learning environments. The fundamental appeal of the flipped classroom lies in the freed up class time, which allows planning for activities that actively engage the students without the perception of sacrificing content. This approach to the classroom has grown exponentially among primary and secondary educators from around the world7−9 and is slowly being adopted into higher education. Evidence of its growth among all levels of chemical educators is observable by symposia like those at the 2012 BCCE, Spring 2014 ConfChem,10 2014 BCCE, and features in this Journal11−13 In the following, you will find information on a variety of aspects associated with flipping the chemistry classroom. A quick review of the titles shows these presentations cover a wide range of technologies and classes. These papers should be of value to both secondary and university educators who are interested in learning from others’ experiences with flipping the classroom. ConfChems are hosted by the ACS CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE), they are free to participate in, and more information can be found at the CCCE homepage.14
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ASSOCIATED CONTENT
S Supporting Information *
The paper titled “Flipping a Class: The Learn by Doing Method” is provided in its entirety since the author of that paper was unable to contribute a communication at this time. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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REFERENCES
(1) American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education Committee on Computers in Chemical Education. http://confchem. ccce.divched.org/2014SpringConfChem (accessed Jan 2015). 1565
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00024 J. Chem. Educ. 2015, 92, 1564−1565
