Flip Tips

Peggy Bacon in mid-air backflip, Bondi Beach, Sydney, 6/2/1937 / by Ted Hood Format: Film photonegative (copied from original nitrate photonegative) From State Library of New South Wales via The Commons on Flickr

Flipping the classroom is getting a lot of attention lately. If you’re anything like me, learning about concepts is interesting but actually figuring out how to implement a new technique is what really draws my interest. I’m banking on the fact that I’m not alone on this so let’s dig in.

Robert Talbert is a mathematician and educator who writes for Casting Out Nines in the Chronicle. Over the last few months he has been writing a series of posts about a calculus class that he flipped for the Fall 2013 semester. In his article “Getting Off On The Right Foot in an Inverted Calculus Class” he offers instructions for how to integrate the out-of-class component with class time. These tips pair pedagogy with action to help practioners figure out how to activate prior knowledge, employ formative assessment techniques and integrate time management methods into their usage of the flipped classroom. (Robert expands on the necessity of certain student skills here. It’s an eye opening read.)

I want to flip! Who can help me?

We’d love to talk to you about your goals and ideas! Contact Heather (hstafford@middlebury.edu) or Joe (jantonio@middlebury.edu) so we can get started! There are also several faculty on campus who are already actively working on this in their classrooms. If you are a faculty member who is working on the flip and interested in developing a community of practice with others who want to do the same, please let us know!