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

翻转课堂颠覆了传统课堂的模式，通过视频或视频等方式在课堂外授课，并利用课堂会议时间进行教师主导的主动学习。这种形式有可能改变科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育，因为它增加了学生花在最有效的教学技巧（即各种主动学习）上的时间，而不会牺牲材料覆盖范围或教育框架。许多教育工作者开始翻转他们的教室，但目前关于学习收益的数据有限。随着在线视频教学的日益普及，迫切需要评估结合这种技术的方法的有效性。研究人员通过测量学生的学习收获，严格检查了四名教师对化学、工程和数学三门STEM课程进行倒转的影响。假设是，学生学习能力的提高主要是因为学生在课堂上与教师一起积极从事有意义的任务，从而获得了额外的时间。如果这一假设被证明是正确的，它将对那些寻求推动更多在线教学的机构产生影响，包括大规模开放在线课程（MOOCs），在这些课程中，师生之间的互动是有限的。此外，由于本研究涉及三个不同的学科，其结果应适用于STEM领域和机构。研究设计的优势有三个方面：(1)除了间接评估措施外，还采用了针对三门课程/学科的直接评估措施；(2)对照和实验部分同时提供（以减少学生人口统计学差异），使用同一讲师（以限制讲师偏见）；(3)直接评估学习成果及其在课程内部和下游课程中的应用，以确定学习成果是否持续存在。通过阐明课堂倒置在STEM教育中的作用，本研究有助于其他STEM教师进行课程设计。通过严格检查三个STEM领域和四位教师的翻转课堂的有效性，该研究通过同行评议文献、在线社区和相关会议上的演讲，为STEM教育者提供基于证据的建议。该项目还提供了两个讲习班，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，上面有例子、研究结果和STEM教育工作者关于翻转教室的建议，使广大读者从这项工作中受益。

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.