How to optimise the flipped classroom using cognitive science

Poster from Learning Scientsts

Adopting a flipped approach to learning is increasingly common in undergraduate teaching in the UK and elsewhere, so how can you make sure it is working for you? Here are some ideas based on research in cognitive science.

We actually know an awful lot about how learning happens and the best techniques that support it thanks to years of work by cognitive scientists. But it is only recently that such work has started to influence study strategies, pedagogy and practice in the classroom. In this post I want to look at how two key ideas from cognitive science, retrieval practice and spaced learning, can be applied to the flipped classroom.

For more on these ideas see the website run by the Learning Scientists or follow them on twitter (@AceThatTest). An article by Julie Schell is also worth reading - it looks at retrieval practice in the context of a flipped classroom in more detail (can be accessed via this Peer Instruction blog post). I also recommend the book ‘Make It Stick’ which I have discussed previously, which provides an easy to understand introduction for a general audience.

As the flipped classroom can take many forms it should be seen as a framework rather than a pedagogy. For me are two elements are key:

1) Students’ first introduction to the material to be taught takes place before the teaching session (this could be through a variety of different media including text and videos)

2) During the teaching session students spend time going deeper into the material with the support of the teacher and in collaboration with other students. In science this often involves Peer Instruction or ‘Think Pair Share’ pedagogies.

(For a good definition see Robert Talbot's blog post on the Flipped Learning Global Initiative site)

Retrieval Practice (or ‘the testing effect’).

We often think that learning is about remembering things - about storing knowledge in long-term memory. But equally, perhaps more important, is being able to retrieve that information when it is needed. In fact the two go hand in hand; research shows that practicing retrieving knowledge from memory is a really effective way to strengthen the long-term storage of learning. And it works for concepts and ideas, not just facts. Testing your knowledge through retrieval practice has been shown to be much better than popular study techniques such as underlining or re-reading. Note that those strategies can erroneously feel productive, because they result in familiarity with the material.

So how can retrieval practice be incorporated into the flipped classroom? One way to do this is to give students a quiz. This could be:

1. As part of the pre lesson activities. Note though, that there is evidence that if the option is available, students may answer the quiz questions in conjunction with reading, rather than afterwards. This will not have the same effect as trying to answer the questions from memory, so it is worth explaining to them the value of testing themselves before looking the answer up!
2. Giving students a quiz at the start of the teaching session. This will have the added benefit of encouraging students to do the pre lesson activities beforehand.

Spaced Learning

The benefits of retrieval practice can be further optimised by spaced learning. Essentially this means increasing the time between each subsequent attempt to recall  and use the new material being learned. Language learning apps such as Memrise and Duolingo use this idea to make learning new words as efficient as possible. To a certain extent the flipped classroom incorporates some spaced learning by its nature; students do pre lesson activities, and then at a later time attend a teaching session where they need to recall that information. Here are some ideas for further incorporating spaced learning into the flipped class:

1. In the teaching session begin with a question from the previous week, or the previous topic that was covered. This doesn’t need to be a question that students struggled with - practising recall of things that are familiar every so often is valuable too.
2. Adapt a question from a few weeks ago that they got right to a slightly different context. This avoids repeating exactly the same question while still testing the same ideas.
3. Take a concept that was covered a few weeks ago and ask a completely new question on it.
4. Or - design a question on the current material that requires knowledge from a previous topic.

I hope these ideas provide a starting point for incorporating ideas from cognitive science into the flipped classroom. Please share any thoughts below!

One thing to note though - research shows that using these strategies can feel less productive and quite frustrating for the learner. This is because learning feels slower, even though it is more effective. For this reason it is advisable to explain to students what you are doing and why, including perhaps referring to the research on learning that they ideas are based on.

How to optimise the flipped classroom using cognitive science by Anna Wood is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.