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How do I design flipped learning?

Once you have identified where in a module or programme you could adopt a flipped approach, it is important to take a systematic approach to planning the learning.

Flipped learning typically involves providing students with appropriate materials in advance of a synchronous teaching session. However, simply giving students a set of resources to review is unlikely to support effective learning on its own.

To succeed, flipped approaches require designed-in activities that ensure students will engage with the learning content in ways that can then be strategically built upon in face-to-face sessions.

This design process can be approached as a sequence of steps.

1. Review and define the learning aims and outcomes

Establish clear learning aims and outcomes for the overall learning that you intend to flip.

Your aims and outcomes should document what you intend to cover and what your students will be able to do as a result of undertaking the asynchronous and class-based learning activities.

With these outcomes clearly stated, you can ensure that both the asynchronous learning materials and synchronous learning time are aligned to support students in achieving these aims.

2. Plan synchronous teaching that deepens student understanding

Live teaching sessions should build upon student engagement with the 'flipped' learning materials.

It can often be tempting to begin by preparing the asynchronous learning materials first. However, it is typically better to consider how you want to use the 'live' contact time, and use that planning to inform the materials you need to develop for that session.

With reference to the learning aims and outcomes that you have defined, the synchronous teaching time may be best utilised to focus on higher-order activities that allow students to apply and analyse their learning.

It will be often be helpful to spend the first part of the synchronous session reflecting on the pre-session materials. Potential approaches can include reviewing pre-sessional activities to identify common questions and misconceptions, or engaging in a question-and-answer session with students informed by the pre-class materials.

The remaining synchronous time can then be focussed on active learning activities that allow students to build upon, investigate, and/or apply what they learned from the asynchronous material.

3. Plan and prepare asynchronous learning materials

Prior to their synchronous teaching sessions, students will usually be assigned materials to review, such as guided readings, videos, or other media.

These materials need to be selected to prepare students for the active learning or equivalent teaching activity that you have planned. It is also important that the relationship between the asynchronous materials and the synchronous teaching is clearly communicated.

You need to consider the best way to present this instructional material to students, taking into account what approaches will allow students to process this content effectively.

  • Self-captured video/screencasts can be a good way of introducing key concepts or talking through complex processes. To help students engage it is strongly recommended that self-captured video materials are 'chunked' into shorter segments (~10-12 minutes long).

  • Video and media does not always need to be self-created. You may be able to curate and appropriate content from Box of Broadcasts (BoB), YouTube, sites that provide Open Educational Resources (OERs), or other online sources, that can be assigned to students.

  • Online readings such as book chapters, articles, and websites, will often also be assigned to students to prepare them for the synchronous activity.

Whatever combination of asynchronous materials are planned, it is important to incorporate scaffolding to support students in engaging constructively. For example, use guiding and reflective questions or equivalent prompts when introducing or connecting the materials, to help students identify the critical concepts or information they need to engage with.

4. Build-in active learning to the asynchronous materials

It is important that asynchronous learning materials are not just passive content that your students are only expected to consume.

Integrating active learning activities into the online content will encourage learner engagement and helps ensure students are better prepared for their synchronous learning sessions. It can also give instructors more opportunities to evaluate student participation in out-of-class work.

There are a variety of approaches that can be adopted to build-in this active learning:

  • Online quizzes can be set-up in a number of ways to allow students to evaluate their understanding of key concepts, model the investigation of a problem, and/or receive automated feedback.

  • Guided self-reflection tasks can encourage students to critically evaluate and reflect on the asynchronous learning content, helping them to identify and engage with key concepts.

  • Online discussion boards with prompts can allow students to begin developing their ideas, collecting and sharing examples, or posting questions before the synchronous session.

  • Individual or collaborative activities can be assigned to prepare for the live session. These could include asking students to submit questions, research examples, prepare a presentation, contribute to a Padlet board, or to undertake an initial problem-solving activity that will be discussed in the synchronous teaching session.

The active learning activities you build into the asynchronous leaning should be clearly framed in terms of preparing students for their face-to-face teaching. Doing so will reinforce the connection between the asyncronous and synchronous learning, encouraging engagement and motivating students to prepare for their 'live' session.

5. Have post-session activities that continue student learning

The opportunity is often missed to have follow-up activities that allow students to continue their learning after the synchronous learning session.

Consider how you can encourage reflection and prompt students to deepen their understanding of what they have learnt in the 'live' session, make connections to the learning outcomes, and explore about how this fits with their wider learning.

Planning for and providing follow-up learning materials -- such as additional content, discussion activites, reading materials, and quizzes -- can help students further develop and embed their understanding of the material.

Providing these follow-up materials can also encourage student engagement with the asynchronous learning content, by reinforcing the relationship between the face-to-face and online learning.


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