Erin Flynn, Science department chair, is applying a new teaching method, Flipping the Classroom, to her classes.

Flynn attended a Building Learning Communities (BLC) conference in 2011 where she learned about Flipping the Classroom.

Flipping the Classroom takes what would normally be done in class, including lectures and dispensing information, and flips it with what would usually be done at home, such as practice problems and labs.

“This method can be applied to relatively any course but not necessarily for the duration of the entire course. This program is most effective with lecture-based classes. Teachers can make videos of themselves giving lectures and post them online for students to view at home,” said Flynn.

“It puts a lot of responsibility on the students to learn independently and come in for help on their own, which I like, because it is a valuable quality for college,” she said.

Flynn has applied Flipping the Classroom to her AP Biology class because of the level of student maturity in the program. Flipping the Classroom will not necessarily lessen the workload of students but is geared towards helping them learn the material better. If a student is stuck on a problem, the instructor is there to help her immediately as opposed to struggling with the work at home with no one to help.

When Flynn gave a workshop to teachers at the Academy, many showed interest. She did point out that at the beginning the instructor has more work to prepare, but the process will make the lessons easier in later years because the videos would be made about topics that should not necessarily change the following year.

Students have received the program with mixed reviews.

“I have been conditioned to learn from the classic teaching style of lectures in class and practice problems at home, so I’d rather have the old style back,” said senior Kimi Hashimoto.

“I forget to watch the lecture videos because I don’t look at it like an actual assignment and the specific topics we cover in class are sometimes hard to find,” she said.

Another senior, Ashley Seki, said “I like that we can go to the teacher in class for questions and that Ms. Flynn is so readily available. I think it really helps with learning the material.”

Erika Kang, another senior, agreed with Seki saying, “The videos are a lot more in depth and show examples, so it is much easier to understand  than just reading the chapter by yourself. Compared to the standard teaching method I really think this method is more useful.”