Turning education upside down

Rosenberg, T. (2013, October 13). Turning education upside down. New York Times, p. 12. Retrieved from libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=90678618&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

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Summary: This New York Times article examines the trend of flipped classrooms, where students watch lectures at home and complete assignments in class. The article presents some "studies" i.e. examples from within classrooms to show the possibility of flipped classrooms and the benefits it has provided for specific schools. It shows how flipped classrooms have improved student assessments/grades, specifically for students who were under-performing.  The article provides viewpoints from different educators (and different types of educators) on flipped classrooms, such as the opinion that not watching a lecture impacts student less than not doing an assignment.  However, it would seem the article demonstrates the potential of flipped classrooms for a layman audience through purely anecdotal evidence.


Review: While the article is a good overview of flipped classrooms, it presents flipped classroom as the end-all-beat-all. It does not discuss any drawback to flipped classroom or potential obstacles in making this model work. There are many obstacles and extra consideration for flipped classrooms. Rosenberg also makes the claim flipped classrooms allow for more individualized and self-directed learning, and while this is certainly true, she does so with no claims to back this up. The article does not go deep enough into the role of the teacher as a support system within this model.

[by Stephannie Tornow]