Session 6 “The Flipped Classroom and CBL Assignment
“We need to think differently.
What if we focused our energy not on test scores and rankings but on engaging students in their work? What if their work was more than facts and formulas as presented in books, but relevant to the world they see? What if rather than trying to teach them problem solving, we actually encouraged them to take on problems that needed solving? Rather than teaching them a science curriculum, what if we opened the door for them to do science?”
The paragraph above hit the nail on the head for me. After reading in detail about Challenge Based Learning or CBL and flipping the classroom, I most definitely confident that both will in fact increase student motivation. With the flipped classroom, students’ motivation will be increased due to the fact that class time is reserved for collaborative work and concept mastery exercises. For example, students won’t get as frustrated nor give up on homework so easily because in flipped classrooms homework is worked on in class and since the students watch the lectures at home at their own pace; teachers have more time to explain difficult concepts in class. I also believe the flipped classroom will motivate students because students will receive instant feedback from their teachers and peers via online discussions after watching the lectures or lesson introduction. Engagement takes place in the class because students will be learning through the activities completed in class. This mere fact will motivate students to want to come to class to participate in the hands on learning experience instead of the traditional lecture and activities assigned individually as homework.
CBL will motivate and benefit students to because of the up-to-date technology tools (web 2.0) and resources they will have access to which leverage the technology they use in their daily lives and the fact that CBL topics are relevant to the students. CBL focuses on real world problems and address local challenges that are impacting neighborhoods, communities, and the world. Students participating in CBL will benefit from it because the workflow of CBL mirrors the 21st century workplace, students are given enough space to be creative and self directed, students get to showcase their natural abilities and skills that are suitable to work on a team, and students will get to participate and collaborate on a project which will get published. CBL develops 21st century skills and helps students to master multidisciplinary concepts.
My music, choir, and AVID classes could most certainly benefit from being flipped and/or working on CBL. I can see my students being engaged, solving real-world issues, and being very collaborative, which they already are. I am going to definitely consider these two concepts when I set out to design my next unit. I am envisioning my kids right now (7th and 8th graders, mostly) putting their investigative skills to great use trying to solve a real world problem. I am yet unsure if this is something all of my 6th graders would be able to handle. My 6th graders can be quite teacher dependent but this can be a launching pad to wean them away from that. I can definitely say these concepts will be used in my AVID curriculum. This is exactly what our students at MIT need. We are a technology based school, yet we do not use all avenues of tech that we could potentially be using. These concepts also sound very similar to the direction in which MIT was heading (PBL) prior to our current administration, which now seems to be standards and teaching to the test driven. Albeit some teachers, myself included, still incorporate projects and cross curricular units into their lessons which do cover content standards but CBL could really assist with students mastering content material at the same time addressing community issues and needs and students taking ownership of a project or challenge self and group guided by the students and not the teachers.
“We need to think differently.
What if we focused our energy not on test scores and rankings but on engaging students in their work? What if their work was more than facts and formulas as presented in books, but relevant to the world they see? What if rather than trying to teach them problem solving, we actually encouraged them to take on problems that needed solving? Rather than teaching them a science curriculum, what if we opened the door for them to do science?”
The paragraph above hit the nail on the head for me. After reading in detail about Challenge Based Learning or CBL and flipping the classroom, I most definitely confident that both will in fact increase student motivation. With the flipped classroom, students’ motivation will be increased due to the fact that class time is reserved for collaborative work and concept mastery exercises. For example, students won’t get as frustrated nor give up on homework so easily because in flipped classrooms homework is worked on in class and since the students watch the lectures at home at their own pace; teachers have more time to explain difficult concepts in class. I also believe the flipped classroom will motivate students because students will receive instant feedback from their teachers and peers via online discussions after watching the lectures or lesson introduction. Engagement takes place in the class because students will be learning through the activities completed in class. This mere fact will motivate students to want to come to class to participate in the hands on learning experience instead of the traditional lecture and activities assigned individually as homework.
CBL will motivate and benefit students to because of the up-to-date technology tools (web 2.0) and resources they will have access to which leverage the technology they use in their daily lives and the fact that CBL topics are relevant to the students. CBL focuses on real world problems and address local challenges that are impacting neighborhoods, communities, and the world. Students participating in CBL will benefit from it because the workflow of CBL mirrors the 21st century workplace, students are given enough space to be creative and self directed, students get to showcase their natural abilities and skills that are suitable to work on a team, and students will get to participate and collaborate on a project which will get published. CBL develops 21st century skills and helps students to master multidisciplinary concepts.
My music, choir, and AVID classes could most certainly benefit from being flipped and/or working on CBL. I can see my students being engaged, solving real-world issues, and being very collaborative, which they already are. I am going to definitely consider these two concepts when I set out to design my next unit. I am envisioning my kids right now (7th and 8th graders, mostly) putting their investigative skills to great use trying to solve a real world problem. I am yet unsure if this is something all of my 6th graders would be able to handle. My 6th graders can be quite teacher dependent but this can be a launching pad to wean them away from that. I can definitely say these concepts will be used in my AVID curriculum. This is exactly what our students at MIT need. We are a technology based school, yet we do not use all avenues of tech that we could potentially be using. These concepts also sound very similar to the direction in which MIT was heading (PBL) prior to our current administration, which now seems to be standards and teaching to the test driven. Albeit some teachers, myself included, still incorporate projects and cross curricular units into their lessons which do cover content standards but CBL could really assist with students mastering content material at the same time addressing community issues and needs and students taking ownership of a project or challenge self and group guided by the students and not the teachers.
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