Teaching methods are constantly updated and improved to keep up with societal and technological changes. One method that is gaining traction across the word is the flipped classroom model – where students review content and even lectures before class, and then discuss what they learned while in class.
With flipped classrooms, the focus is less on the lecturer talking and the students listening, and more on collaborating, asking questions, and applying learning.
At Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, several lecturers have begun to implement the innovative model, with positive results.
New models need teamwork
“Starting the first semester of last academic year, the School of Languages started to implement flipped classroom in some EAP modules for First Year students,” says Qiwei Zhang, the Head of EAP Year 1 Core Pathway Division.
“For content that can be delivered as a lecture, we record online video lessons. This allows more time in live classes for student-centred language practice. The time in those live classes can also be used for checking students’ understanding of the video lessons by doing follow-up activities with more interaction.”
Qiwei Zhang, the Head of EAP Year 1 Core Pathway Division
Zhang believes the key to this type of innovative class model is lecturers’ and students’ joint efforts.
“Students need to understand the importance of completing those video lessons autonomously before coming to the face-to-face classes. Similarly, lecturers also need to understand it and avoid repeating the same contents as in the video lessons but allow more practice in different formats. Repetition may demotivate students who have done their homework properly because they may think teachers will repeat the same content in class anyway, so there’s no value in completing them using outside class time, ” she says.
Students as protagonists
In his module about critical reading and writing of scientific papers, Professor Johannes Knops of the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences takes the approach of making students the protagonists of the classroom.
“Flipped classrooms can help students learn more independently, moving away from being just passive listeners,” says Professor Knops.
In this course, students are divided into groups of four or five, and each group has a postgraduate student to join in and lead the discussion. In the two-hour class, the first hour is used for reading and discussing the literature in the group, and the remaining time is for student presentations followed by questions and answers.
“They will have about an hour to read the articles in the group, discuss their findings and then do a short presentation. There is also a class-wide discussion where everyone can give feedback on the other group’s presentation.”
Students are reading papers and discussing within groups
For the preparation of flipped class, Professor Knops believes that the design of the assignments is one of the most important parts.
“Most classes have a final exam and students may focus only on the final results and not the learning process. But in this class, we tie more little assignments into the classes, meaning the final results show a better picture of the students over time.”
Students are doing presentations
One of the students, Changyang Aohan, says: “Through small assignments in class, we can consolidate and practice what we learn that day, and it’s easy to see the progress we’ve made.”
Xueyin Wang, another student, agrees: “The flipped class model lets us really understand how to learn, how to use tools, and how to use knowledge, rather than simply accepting it.”
Challenges and solutions
Despite great feedback from lecturers and students, this innovative class model is not without challenges.
In the School of Languages, different levels of students’ self-discipline has become the biggest hurdle for lecturers. “The face-to-face class needs to be delivered based on students’ knowledge of the video sessions. If students come unprepared, they might not understand as well as students who did tasks required,” explains Zhang. “So we need to be mindful of different levels of preparation.”
However, there are some technological solutions, she explains: “With the support of Learning Mall, we can visualise students’ completion and monitor their performance of before-class sessions to ensure the effects of face-to-face class time better.”
Online shift
With technological advances and the post-pandemic world, the longevity of the flipped classroom model depends on how well it can adapt to online learning.
Professor Knops says additional activities outside the classroom, such as pre-class videos and online quizzes, can help students and teachers make the most of their in-class time, whether it’s in person or online.
Zhang says: “During the most recent bout of online teaching, we’ve tried to make the live classes more interactive and dynamic even though they’re online. Lecturers at the School of Languages are also exploring more educational technology like interactive plug-ins to make this model more applicable in online teaching.”
By Xinyi Liu and Luyao Wang
Edited by Patricia Pieterse
Photos by Luyao Wang