Organic Chemistry Flipped Classroom
At a Glance
Discipline
- STEM
- Chemistry
Instructional Level
- College & CEGEP
Course
- Organic Chemistry
Tasks in Workflow
Social Plane(s)
- Individual
- Group
Type of Tasks
- Solving problems
- Creating & designing
- Revising & improving
- Reading
- Presenting
Technical Details
Useful Technologies
- YouTube
Time
- Single class period (< 90 mins)
Instructional Purpose
- Consolidation & metacognition
- Assessment & knowledge refinement
Overview
In this approach, the class is flipped in order to teach the lessons in a way where students will be more engaged and can have extra help if needed. It is also been shown that teaching with this approach increases student grades.
Before the beginning of the semester, the instructor prepares 2-4 6 minute videos for each class during the semester. The videos cover the easier topics within the course. Students have 2 classes per week and the number of videos per week does not exceed 5.
Before each class, the instructor usually prepares 2 (but anywhere from 1-3) one-sided portfolio (PF) organic chemistry activity sheets.
Before each class, students watch 2 to 4 videos.
During class:
During the first 20 minutes of each class, the instructor asks if there are any questions about the videos and writes them down and answers them in an order decided upon by the instructor.
Students are given 15-30 minutes to complete the first PF activity sheet and are given the choice to work in pairs or solo. The instructor circulates and answers any questions students may have.
The instructor gives a theory lesson (in total approximately 20 to 30 minutes) on topics that build on the topic in the videos but are more challenging.
Student are then given 15-30 minutes to complete the second PF activity sheet. The instructor circulates and answers any questions students may have.
At the end of the class, students hand the PF activity sheets in (to the instructor).
The instructor gives a formative assessment of the PF activity sheet. Students get a star if their answer is correct or they get an X or a tip on how to correct it if it is incorrect. The instructor will never give the final answer. The instructors then give back the PF activity sheets to the students.
Students have 5 tests during the semester and have to submit their corrected portfolio activity sheets before each exam.
The instructor marks the portfolios after each submission; each incorrect answer is considered (whether it was an answer not corrected at all based on the formative assessment or whether it was an answer corrected incorrectly). Each submission is worth 1% of their final mark (For total of 5% of their final mark).
At the end of the semester, students have produced a portfolio containing all of their organic chemistry exercises completed throughout the semester.
Instructional Objectives
To complete the objectives of the course with students being able to do working class and being able to ask questions.
Workflow & Materials
Activity Workflow
Contributor's Notes
Benefits
Challenges
Tips
Benefits
Students are able to be active in class and do their chemistry exercises during free class time. Some of the more challenging topics are covered in class and students are able to do exercises related to the challenging material right after it is taught and get help with more challenging questions if need be.
Challenges
Even though it is clearly stressed that students need to watch the videos before class in order to be able to participate in the chemistry exercises during class, some students still do not do their prep work. Although these students don’t get as much benefit as those who put in work before class, the students still get some benefit because they do the exercises in class.
Tips
VIDEOS:
If you are making a series of videos, make sure to make the videos before the semester starts because the workload is heavy. Keep videos short (6 min). Use an informal tone of voice, speak enthusiastically. Address your students directly to engage them. Use signalization (e.g., subtitles) on screen. Keep videos simple, avoid complex background or music. Provide pause-solve-resume features within videos to have students apply their knowledge immediately.
ACCURACY ON PRE- AND IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES:
See Caroline and Bruno’s paper published on the Organic Chemistry Flipped Classroom for a detailed list of tips: Cormier and Bruno Voisard 2018. Flipped Classroom in Organic Chemistry Has Significant Effect on Student’s Grades. Frontiers in ICT. 4(30): 1-15. DOI: 20doi: 10.3389/fict.2017.00030
Applied Strategies
Published: 18/09/2018
Copyright: © 2024 Cormier and Voisard. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication on this website is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.