The idea behind the flipped classroom approach is pretty simple. For many students, listening to a lecture in class and then doing homework at home is somewhat problematic. If they get home and are struggling with the homework, there is often no one there who can help them. As a result, they can spend a lot of time on the homework, often reinforcing misunderstandings of concepts and frequently getting very frustrated. But now, because of the technology available to us, we can “flip” the traditional classroom model. Students can now watch the lecture at home  as homework and do the traditional “homework” at school.

This provides several advantages. First, students have more control over the time and place that they watch the lecture. If watching the lecture right after school when they get home works best for them, great. If the best time for a particular student to work on this is at 10:00 pm, then more power to them. They can choose the time and location that works best for them.

Second, students have much more control over the pace of the lecture. They can pause the video at any time to study what’s on the screen, and they can replay part or all of the lecture any time they want. So a student that typically “gets it” the first time they hear it can move on to other things and not have to listen to a teacher repeat various parts of the lecture for other students in the class. On the other hand, students that need more time to process, or need multiple repetitions of examples, can control that without the teacher needing to move on to other topics.  And all students can go back to videos they’ve already watched if they need to review a particular topic.

Third, students are no longer practicing in isolation. They now have the opportunity to do the traditional “homework” practice problems in class, where they have the teacher and other students available to help them. If they don’t understand something they no longer have to struggle with it on their own at home and possibly get frustrated because they know they can’t get help until the next day (if the teacher has time). Now they are practicing together, in class, with the support of the teacher.

Finally, this approach also frees up class time to not only practice but to explore mathematics. Teachers often feel pressed to cover the curriculum in the time we have. By shifting the lectures to outside of class, it frees up class time to practice mathematical inquiry. It allows us time to explore, question and investigate the mathematics, which is not only more interesting for students but leads to a deeper understanding.