Probing the Inverted Classroom: A Controlled Study of Teaching and Learning Outcomes in Undergraduate Chemistry, Engineering, and Mathematics

倒置课堂通过视频或截屏等方式在课外授课，并利用课堂会议时间进行教师主导的主动学习，从而颠覆了传统授课课程的模式。这种形式有可能改变科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育，在不牺牲材料覆盖面或教育支架的情况下，增加学生使用最有效的教学技术(即各种主动学习)的时间。许多教育工作者开始改变他们的课堂，但目前关于学习成果的数据有限。随着在线视频教学的日益普及，迫切需要评估融入这种技术的方法的有效性。调查人员正在通过衡量学生的学习收益，严格检查四名教师颠倒化学、工程和数学三门STEM课程的影响。这个假设是，学生学习的增加主要是因为学生将有更多的时间与老师一起积极地在课堂上处理有意义的任务。如果这一假设被证明是正确的，它将对寻求推动更多在线教学的机构产生影响，包括大规模在线公开课(MOOC)，其中师生互动有限。此外，因为这项研究涉及三个不同的学科，所以研究结果应该适用于STEM领域和机构。研究设计的强度有三个方面：(1)除了间接评估措施外，还使用针对三门课程/学科的直接评估措施；(2)比较同时提供的控制组和实验组(以减少学生的人口统计学差异)，使用相同的教师(以限制教师偏见)；通过阐明课堂倒置在STEM教育中的作用，本研究旨在帮助其他STEM教师进行课程设计。通过严格检验翻转课堂在三个STEM领域和四名教师的有效性，这项研究正在通过同行评议文献、在线社区和相关会议上的演讲向STEM教育工作者提供循证建议。该项目还提供了两个研讨会，培训教师如何实现翻转课堂体验的最有效方面。一个详细的网站，为STEM教育工作者提供翻转课堂的例子、研究结果和提示，使广泛的受众能够从这项工作中受益。

An inverted, or "flipped," classroom reverses the paradigm of traditional lecture courses by delivering lectures outside of class -- by means such as videos or screencasts -- and using class meeting time for instructor-mediated active learning. This format has the potential to transform science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education by increasing student time spent with the most effective teaching techniques (i.e., varieties of active learning) without sacrificing material coverage or educational scaffolding. Many educators are beginning to flip their classrooms, but limited data on learning gains are currently available. With the rising popularity of teaching via online videos, there is an urgent need to assess the effectiveness of approaches that incorporate this technology.The investigators are rigorously examining the impact of four instructors inverting three STEM courses, in chemistry, engineering, and mathematics, by measuring student learning gains. The hypothesis is that increased student learning will arise primarily because of the additional time that students will have with instructors actively working on meaningful tasks in class. If this hypothesis proves true, it will have implications for institutions that are seeking to push more instruction online, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), where instructor-student interaction is limited. In addition, because this study involves three different disciplines, the results should be applicable across STEM fields and institutions.The strength of the study design is threefold: (1) the use of direct assessment measures specific to each of the three courses/disciplines, in addition to indirect assessment measures; (2) comparison of control and experimental sections offered simultaneously (to reduce student demographic variability) using the same instructor (to limit instructor bias); and (3) direct assessment of learning gains and application both within the course and in downstream courses to determine whether learning gains persist.By elucidating the role of classroom inversion in STEM education, this study is aiding other STEM instructors in course design. By rigorously examining the effectiveness of the flipped classroom across three STEM fields and four instructors, the study is providing evidence-based recommendations to STEM educators via publications in peer-reviewed literature, online communities, and presentations at relevant conferences.The project is also offering two workshops to train faculty on how to achieve the most effective aspects of the flipped-classroom experience. A detailed website with examples, study results, and tips for STEM educators on flipping the classroom enables a wide audience to benefit from this work.