The Flipped Classroom Model

Precious Ohagwu PharmD

PGY1 Pharmacy Resident

Suburban Hospital- Johns Hopkins Medicine

Flipped classrooms have gained popularity in the last decade. It has brought with it a different approach to teaching and learning. The flipped classroom is an educational model in which students become familiarized with a concept outside of the classroom through assigned readings, problem-solving as well as writing. Then, they come into class and apply the knowledge gathered previously to synthesize new knowledge, analyze new situations and perform higher-level problem-solving¹. With reference to Bloom’s taxonomy, students perform the remembering and understanding portion before class, and then apply and analyze during class². With this approach, the focus is shifted from teacher-centered to learner-centered instruction.

The flipped classroom model has been adopted by some educators because it allows students to learn at their own pace, increases student engagement with the material and frees up class time³. Various studies have found out that students taught in a flipped classroom model actually prefer it because they felt more engaged with the material than students in traditional courses.

If flipped classrooms are so great, why are they not more popular, you may ask. A couple of criticisms of the flipped classroom model is that there is a significant amount of trust required of students to actually do the pre-class work. Students who have low motivation to complete work on their own may start lagging behind on coursework. This leads to issues with inability to move forward with the curriculum as the class may become fragmented into well-prepared and ill-prepared students. Furthermore, due to the fact that there is a lot of work required to be done prior to class time, both by the student and instructor, preparation may become overwhelming to both parties.  Preparing beforehand for a class, as seen in the flipped classroom model requires student access to the internet in order to access required materials for pre-class time work. For students who do not have access to these resources, the flipped classroom may do more harm than good when compared to a traditional classroom.

So how does the flipped classroom translate into pharmacy education?

For flipped classrooms to be successful, there has to be achievable objectives. Objectives should be defined using the SMART acronym. They have to be Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Timely⁴. These objectives also have to relate to soft skills like problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills.

In order to acquire the foundational knowledge require for the flipped classroom approach, pre-class assignments should be assigned. These can range from pre-assigned readings, to pre-recorded lectures or videos. It is important to note that the assigned material must be written at a comprehension level that is well-suited to students’ expected knowledge level. If material is too advanced, students may lose the motivation that is so important in a flipped classroom.

Another strategy used in the flipped classroom model is the use of in-class activities. These activities should have active learning strategies embedded in them to keep students motivated. However, efforts should be made to avoid ‘double lecturing’ and repetition of the pre-class work as this can lead to student apathy to the material.

After-class work is the next stage in this process. In order to consolidate what has been learned before and during the class session, after-class work should provide feedback to students and help students apply their skills to a variety of situations.

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle is assessment. In traditional learning, assessments are usually done after lectures, are lesser in number therefore often weighing more. However, in the flipped classroom model, more frequent, lower stakes assessments may be required as a motivation for students to do the pre-class work, and also for the instructor to gauge how well the class is doing in order to identify areas of weakness early on. Common assessment tools utilized in the flipped classroom include quizzes, guided questions, recorded audience response as well as cases.

Overall, flipped learning is an innovative model which has led to a shift in how students are educated. It has been shown to increase student knowledge as well as motivation to learn. While there are still challenges that are posed by this model, it may prove to become a very significant part of graduate education, especially pharmacy education.

References

1.   Brame C. Flipping the Classroom [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020Sep18]. Available from: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/

 2.   Office of Medical Education Research And Development [Internet]. What, Why, and How to Implement a Flipped Classroom Model. [cited 2020Sep18]. Available from: https://omerad.msu.edu/teaching/teaching-strategies/27-teaching/162-what-why-and-how-to-implement-a-flipped-classroom-model

 3.   Nouri J. The flipped classroom: for active, effective and increased learning-especially for low achievers... [Internet]. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. [cited 2020Sep18].

 4.   Persky AM, McLaughlin JE. The Flipped Classroom - From Theory to Practice in Health Professional Education. Am J Pharm Educ. 2017 Aug;81(6):118. doi: 10.5688/ajpe816118. PMID: 28970619; PMCID: PMC5607728.