The month of March signals a midway point through the academic term or semester for many students and faculty. This time can also be seen as a bit of a slump due to many factors including everyone being worn down by winter weather, packed schedules, and springing forward thanks to Daylight Savings Time. However, this academic midpoint can also be a time for faculty and students to step back, take a breath, and reflect on their performance to date.

We’ve shared several blog posts recently focusing on active learning in the classroom. Have you incorporated some of these strategies or activities into the courses you currently teach? If so, have you asked your students how they view the changes? Most often, course evaluations are conducted at the end of a term and don’t provide an opportunity to make adjustments that could help the students who submitted the feedback. Laura B. McGrath recently wrote a piece for Inside Higher Ed titled “Mid-Semester Evaluations” that offers some great suggestions and resources that can help obtain feedback from students and use that feedback to make adjustments now…not after a course has concluded. Also keep in mind that a midway check doesn’t have to focus solely on the course or the instructor. As part of this exercise, also include an opportunity for students to evaluate their performance.

How often do you ask for feedback? Take a moment and respond to our poll below.

In last week’s blog post, we conducted a quick poll to gauge your interest in the flipped classroom model of teaching and learning. The majority of those who responded indicated there is interest in the flipped classroom model but need to know more before committing to making a transition. We hope that the resources we are including as part of our weekly blog posts and adding to our 2014: Year of Active Learning at UTSHC page are helpful as you learn more about about active learning and flipping the classroom.

As we discussed in our blog post from a couple of weeks ago (https://uthsctlc.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/where-to-begin/), making a transition to a new teaching and learning model takes time and work. We suggested that you test the waters by incorporating an active learning exercise into a class you are currently teaching or flipping just one class session. Have you been searching for ideas to help in making this happen? Check out the Active Learning for the College Classroom page created by Dr. Donald Paulson and Dr. Jennifer Faust from California State University. They have put together an excellent list of active learning exercises that can help to supplement the class lecture or assist in flipping the classroom.

Let us know if you have tested out the active learning/flipped classroom waters. We’d love to hear about your experience!

In some of our recent blog posts, we’ve shared links and resources related to the flipped classroom. We’d like to dedicate this week’s blog post to conducting a quick poll to gauge your interest in learning more about flipping the classroom.

Interested in learning more about the flipped classroom before submitting your vote? See our 2014: Year of Active Learning at UTHSC page at https://academic.uthsc.edu/faculty/2014.php to view a variety of resources.

Last week’s blog post focused on an active learning strategy, the flipped classroom, that is currently receiving a great deal of attention. As with any new teaching/learning model that receives a great deal of attention or hype, questions loom. Particularly…does it work?

Dr. Steve Nace (UTHSC College of Medicine) recently shared a series of posts with us from AM Rounds, the official blog of Academic Medicine (Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges). In this series of posts, faculty and students shared their thoughts and perspectives on a flipped classroom experience that took place in the North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Though challenging, all participants viewed the overall experience as a success.

To view this blog series and read more about the North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s flipped classroom experience go to: http://academicmedicineblog.org/tag/behind-the-scenes-of-a-flipped-classroom-redesign/.

What other evidence exists related to the successes and challenges of flipping the classroom? What do other faculty and students who have participated in a flipped classroom environment say about their experience? Check out the articles below to learn more.

Nursing Faculty Explore Flipped Classroom and Effect on Student Outcomes
https://news.tamhsc.edu/?post=nursing-faculty-explore-flipped-classroom-and-effect-on-student-outcomes

How to Make the Most of the Flipped Classroom
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/01/15/how-to-make-the-most-of-the-flipped-classroom.aspx

Flipped Classroom Model Taking Off, Thanks to Online Video
http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/News/Online-Video-News/Flipped-Classroom-Model-Taking-Off-Thanks-to-Online-Video-93359.aspx

7 Things You Should Know About Flipped Classrooms (EDUCAUSE)
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7081.pdf

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

We’ve all seen the statistics from various research studies that report a person’s attention span in a lecture setting begins to fade within ten to twenty minutes. As educators, how do we keep from losing our students within those first few minutes of a class and focused for the remainder of the class?

We’ve heard the term active learning used to describe the process students should be engaged in while participating in class activities in order to keep them focused. However, do we understand what defines active learning? What types of teaching and learning activities fit into the definition of active learning?

Throughout 2014, professional development sessions will be offered and resources made available that will help you better understand active learning as well as assist in making the incorporation of the active learning approach an achievable goal in your courses.

To kick off 2014, The Year of Active Learning at UTSHC, we’ve created a webpage where we will post resources that provide information related to active learning and examples of activities.  Bookmark and visit our page (academic.uthsc.edu/faculty/2014.php) often as we will continue to add new resources and information to this page.

“Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write reflectively about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.”

From: Chickering, Arthur and Stephen C. Ehrmann (1996), “Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever,”  AAHE Bulletin, October, pp.  3-6.