This semester I am teaching a short term Intro Stats class, and I have found it more challenging to flip this class. The class meets 4 days a week for 2 hours a day. This can be difficult because I typically have two main concepts to cover, and students have trouble preparing for a second topic until they get a chance to work on the first concept in class. I will share some of the strategies I have used.

The Best Days

I have found that the best days are those which I have a concept that can extend to the entire two hours. For example, today I covered the two mean test using independent samples. We started by having a discussion about comparing the two mean test to the paired difference test that we covered yesterday. Students then worked through a few tests in their groups. Once I felt they had the two mean test under control I pivoted to the nonparametric Mann Whitney test, the test we use when the necessary conditions for the two mean test are not met. I was able to introduce this concept with a brief 10 minute mini-lecture, and followed up with another group activity with four tests to work through – some two mean & some Mann Whitney. Students got a chance to learn when to use each technique, and I felt confident that they understood both tests.

Making it Work

I have had to be flexible with my traditional approach. For example, I often cover binomial probabilities on one day and follow up with Poisson probabilities the next day. I think asking students to work on a Flip assignment on Poisson probabilities before we discuss binomial probabilities is a tall order.
First Day
So, for the first day students worked a Flip assignment on binomial probabilities before class, and in class the first hour was devoted to a Learning Catalytics assignment and a problem solving session. At that point I could have given a short 20 minute lecture on Poisson probabilities followed by more problem solving. Instead, we spent the second hour on a project introducing the concept of a one proportion test using the binomial distribution. (That is 4 chapters before we formally cover hypothesis testing.)
Second Day
For the second day, students worked on a Flip assignment on Poisson probabilities before class. We spent the first hour doing a team-based Learning Catalytics session followed by some problem solving with the Poisson distribution. For the second hour students did more problem solving on a mixture of general discrete probability distributions, the binomial distribution, and the Poisson distribution.

In a typical class that meets an hour per day this might have taken 3 days, but it took 4 hours of in-class time. This has happened a lot, and I have had to be real careful in terms of how I plan the schedule for this class. Switching from unit exams to a midterm/final approach has bought me a few days. I have learned to be more efficient with other topics.

Stacking Concepts

There are some pairs of topics that can be handled with two flip assignments on the same night. For example, sampling and sampling techniques are covered in two sections in our textbook and I typically spend two days on this material. I was able to give a combined flip assignment on sampling. In class we worked on a Learning Catalytics assignment, followed by an activity in which students got to experiment with the various methods.

Other places where this worked included qualitative and quantitative graphs, and measures of central tendency and dispersion.

Mid-Class Flip

One strategy I did not employ, but holds great promise, is using a mid-class flip assignment. The idea is that I could give students a flip assignment on one topic and begin the class with a group activity, then follow up with a 15-20 minute flip activity for that day’s second topic.

If technology is not available, that flip assignment could be as simple as a guided reading assignment. An open-ended problem solving assignment from the next section could be given. In a smart classroom, videos could be played for the entire class. There are many options.

Once that mid-class flip assignment is done the class could move on to a group activity or a Learning Catalytics assessment.

Summary

I feel I will be better prepared for the next time I flip a 2-hour class. I think the real key is to stop doing things the way I have always done them and really leverage the advantages of the flipped classroom.

I have also flipped my elementary algebra classes this semester, and will share about those in a later blog.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or reach out to me on Twitter or through the contact page on my web site.

George