My current role is the Lab Technician for courses in Horticulture and Environmental Protection Technology. Part of my job in managing the labs is to provide the materials and equipment necessary for the lab portions of the courses. When I started, the job tended to be cyclical, with the same labs happening each year in particular semesters. When the pandemic began, my job was changed drastically.
After the initial quarantine that required instructors to immediately pivot to virtual classes, we were given permission to host a limited number of essential in-person labs with reduced numbers of participants and individual equipment (Image 1). For one course, there are up to 35 enrolled students and then only 8 were allowed in the lab at a time. Labs were shortened from 2.5 hours to 50 minutes with time in between to sanitize all equipment and surfaces. This required instructors to cut down the exercises to the concepts that most needed to be taught in-person.
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| Image 1: Pandemic guidelines required each student to have their own station and equipment. Each item and surface had to be sanitized in between labs. The number of lab sections had to be increased to allow for social distancing and based on the limited numbers of expensive equipment. Image credit: C. Steel 2021 |
To make the most efficient use of each precious 50-minute lab, I helped the instructor prepare videos and slides of various demonstrations, activities and course content (Image 2). Students were required to view these materials on-line before coming to the lab so that there was minimal time lost to providing instructions and base information. During labs, students learned hands-on skills and discussed questions demonstrating the application of their findings.
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| Image 2: Each course website includes slideshows, videos, and other content that students are required to view in advance of the in-person lab. These resources provide them with information about the subject and an introduction to the tasks that they will be required to perform during the lab. Image credit: C. Steel 2020 |
While it was obvious that some students did not prepare for the lab, the feedback from other students regarding the on-line content was positive and they liked having the ability to review it multiple times at their own need. As we took in the feedback and became better versed in the electronic platforms, the content became more robust and better organized.
When I was reading an article about flipping the classroom written by Cynthia Brame, I discovered that the course format we were using followed the flipped classroom delivery method that has been used by other educators. I don’t know if it was intentional on the instructor’s part, or if it happened organically as adjustments were made in the moment in response to pandemic guidelines. The IT department, along with Teaching and Learning support provided a lot of support to create the virtual content. Because of this, it was one of many courses at the university that frontloaded labs with first-exposure learning so that the information processing activities could occur in-person (as described by Walvoord and Anderson in Effective Grading, 1998).
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| Image credit: University of Washington - click image for link |
In the article, Braeme highlights a couple variations of this method, such as peer instruction and inverted classroom. There are also summaries of several published reports that show significant improvements in marks for classes that trialed the flipped classroom method over the traditional method of instruction.
In describing the flipped classroom, Braeme identified 4 components:
1. Provide an opportunity for students to gain first exposure prior to class.
2. Provide an incentive for students to prepare for class.
3. Provide a mechanism to assess student understanding.
4. Provide in-class activities that focus on higher level cognitive activities.(Braeme, 2013)
Utilizing these components when our in-person instruction was so limited, allowed us to efficiently use the lab time for students to process and apply their new knowledge. Also, the virtual learning content that was created for this method has left us in a good position to pivot to entirely virtual if required. This has built resilience into our program that did not exist previously.
When I add this experience to the pre-pandemic success of the flipped classroom method, I am inclined to conclude that there is enough evidence to continue utilizing this method. Even after the pandemic is under control, many students will continue to value the flexibility provided by the flipped classroom. Creating the content for this method was intensive but it is of enduring quality, so I believe that the instructor (as well as myself), will prefer to continue with some variation of the flipped classroom.
The programs that I am involved in are skill-oriented and require a lot of in-person instruction for the safe and effective operation of equipment. Those involved in running the programs are constantly balancing the demand for high-tech, asynchronous, virtual learning with the in-person instruction that provides the efficacy for the related industries. The flipped classroom seems like one possible way to achieve that balance.
References:
Brame, C. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved 04 Jan 2022 from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.
Walvoord BE, and Anderson VJ (1998). Effective grading: A tool for learning and assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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