We’ve all heard the term, sage-on-the-stage, used to refer to educators who utilize lecturing as the main model of information delivery in the face-to-face classroom. It seems as though lecturing has been a fixture in the classroom for as long as there have been teachers and students in classrooms. However, many in education (and even outside the field) are now wondering if lecturing is the most effective method of teaching and learning in the current digital age? Are there other means of sharing content and information that in the past were typically delivered during face-to-face class meetings? If so, can class time be restructured to include different methods of teaching and learning including active learning activities? Some believe that the flipped classroom model is the answer to these questions.

The flipped classroom is a teaching and learning model that has been around for many years. However, technology has put a new spin on flipping the classroom, and many in education are beginning to take note based on the success stories shared by other educators.  Eric Mazur, Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University, began developing a teaching method known as Peer Instruction in 1990. This method focused on transferring the large lecture classroom into a more interactive teaching and learning experience and proved to be very successful in his introductory physics course. His success with the Peer Instruction model has since spread far beyond his Harvard classroom, and has led Dr. Mazur to become a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the flipped classroom model.

Interested in learning more about the flipped classroom model and the work of Dr. Mazur? Visit our 2014: The Year of Active Learning at UTHSC page at https://academic.uthsc.edu/faculty/2014.php for links to additional resources and information.

“I thought I was a good teacher until I discovered my students were just memorizing information rather than learning to understand the material.” – Dr. Eric Mazur