Comment by criddell
6 hours ago
For some of the classes my kids were in, the lessons and homework time were reversed.
Learning the material (using the text book and videos) was what they had to do at night and class time was spent working through problems or applying the material in some way.
Flipped classroom was a popular method when I was teaching math. Some students found it very helpful. The trouble was getting the students to do the reading before class. If students came in unprepared they struggled to keep up.
I did this for the last college programming course I taught (2025) as an anti-LLM measure. Every class started with a very short closed-book auto-graded multiple-choice test on the reading. I was careful to specify which was the core reading needed to learn the material (on the quiz) and which was extra (not on the quiz - I think many professors assign this extra reading to everyone, thinking of their strongest students). I think this developed an expectation in the students that doing the reading was easier than finding a way not to.
It's especially hard when multiple subjects try to do it, because it can add enormous amounts of home-time expectations. And many families can't dedicate that much time.
I do like it though, and I like that college generally leaned that way more (and was better balanced, as it had substantially less time in classrooms, so you could study during the day).
I taught a flipped classroom online. Students had to successful pass a quiz on the before class materials to get the join link to the session.
Popular yes; based on good quality research… no, not really. It’s really pretty unfortunate timing with the AI boom, because the field of education research is not very high on the science quality totem pole. And the field as a whole was and is also slow to incorporate neuroscience findings, too.
I think for my ADHD child-self, this would have been a huge improvement. I didn’t need help learning, I needed help doing homework.
They’re using flipped learning even in universities now.
I experienced this method in accelerated class context, decades ago
This is typical at the college/university level - when I attended 20-25 years ago, we were expected to learn the material through readings outside of class, and then class time was spent on discussion, application, questions, and working through problems.
IMHO there's a lot to recommend this style. A lot of students learn better when they can wrestle with the material at their own pace, on their own time, in their own setting. It quells a lot of anxiety about "I'm not following what the teacher is saying, am I stuped, will I look bad in front of all my peers?" And then class time can be spent identifying holes in your knowledge and getting instant feedback from an expert, which is where they are most useful.
Although obvious, I think it's worth stating that this method mostly (only?) makes sense for higher education, where students are conscious, involved and engaged in their curriculum.
I think it makes sense as soon as students have the fundamentals down. You have to be able to read, listen, make connections, think critically, devote sustained attention to a task, and manage your time effectively. Some students develop these skills in elementary school, and then starting in middle school, the flipped classroom approach can work. Some adults never develop these skills. Although arguably, people that never develop these skills will likely be sitting there zoning out in a traditional classroom lecture and not actually learn anything.
Flipped classroom method?
Yes! I didn't know it had a name but a quick googling confirms what you said.
Interesting. Ages?
This was probably middle school.
What do you think about it? I think that the ability to study by yourself is probably the most valuable thing one could get from school and most kids usually don't. Your setup would suggest that demanding that a kids know how to study by themselves is going mainstream...?
Your answer - middle school - I find it extremely young for this, which is extra interesting.
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