Flippin' History in Action

I started this journey looking for examples of flipped classrooms working effectively in an upper elementary social studies class.  I was able to find one study that I thought might help make my case.  Conducted by Vasiliki Aidinopoulou and Demetrios G. Sampson, the duo looked to perform “An Action Research Study from Implementing the Flipped Classroom Model in Primary School History Teaching and Learning.”  The two completed the work in 2017, so I like the currentness of the work.  Their argument began with the idea that the traditional classroom does not allow enough time for the historical/critical thinking skills that need developing in young minds.  Instead, the traditional classroom focuses on the memorization of content.  They hoped to investigate how flipping a classroom would impact the addressing of “common misconceptions about historical knowledge, primary sources, human motivation and historical change” by using digital technologies and the inclass time created (redirected) by the flip.  The subject of the historical study was 5th grade “Roman and Byzantine history from 146 BC - 1453 AD.”

The study wanted to prove/disprove two different things:

1. Does the implementation of the FC model in a primary school history course lead to the use of classroom time for more student-centered activities?
2. Does this contribute to better students’ learning outcomes compared to traditional teaching strategies?

Overall, they were wanting to determine how well FC made a difference in the history classroom, if at all. The study identified a “real design problem” as studied in DDLS.  Basically, how can a classroom utilize the FC method to cultivate HTS (historical thinking skills), in an engaging way?  The research team followed the ADDIE model (Analysis phase, Design phase, Development phase, Implementation phase, and Evaluation phase). They identified the problem, defined the learning goals, activities, and assessments, developed the needed materials, implemented the plan, and then evaluated the results.

One takeaway for me is the way the FC instructors required the asynchronous interaction.  Students interacted in the Moodle LMS by publishing questions, comments, or answering their classmates’ questions, taking quizzes, and accessing optional material if they chose.  I did wonder how the questions were asked/answered.  Did all questions need to be supplied by a given time?  Did the teacher promise to check the questions in advance of class?  Were the posed questions made available in class in person the next day?  How did the teacher decide which ones to share?  Did the teacher herself respond to questions posted?  If so, in what time?  The concept of assessment was discussed and I forgot that assessment can be informal.  In this case, the assessment was the teachers just asking questions of the students of the “historical memorization stuff”.  I’m curious how the teacher tracked this for all students?  Is that something that has to be considered?

One of the ideas I appreciated about the study was it’s connection to the cultivation of historical thinking skills.  I think the cultivation of such could easily go hand in hand with the “making thinking visible routines” that I wanted to explore more this year as part of my personal professional development.  I also was thankful they focused on these HTS because I typically don’t think of doing it specifically.  I am a memorization type person...I want students to follow the train of events (timeline) that involve important historical people.  I need to do more in the way of developing HTS in my classroom.  The results of the study indicate that “FC model had a significant positive impact on developing HTS, but not so regarding historical content memorization capacity.”  This makes sense because generally speaking, the FC allowed for more analysis, evaluation, and creation (higher Bloom’s skills) because of the time gained in the classroom to focus on such and differentiate as needed among the students.  As my students generally don’t have trouble with the historical memorization aspect of learning, this doesn’t concern me too much and in fact excites me that I would be able to advance their thinking skills instead.

Toward the end of the paper, the authors suggest that parents really need to be enlightened on the concept of FC as “the family has an important role in student’s learning and can contribute to or obstruct the model’s efficiency.”  I wanted more about this.  How do they suggest teachers involve parents and how have parents sabotaged the model in the past?  I’d like to know more so I know what to look out for.

Article Used:

Aidinopoulou, Vasiliki, and Demetrios G Sampson. “An Action Research Study from Implementing the Flipped Classroom Model in Primary School History Teaching and Learning.” Journal of Educational Technology & Society, vol. 20, no. 1, 2017, pp. 237–247., http://mutex.gmu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1125835&site=ehost-live