Flipped Learning

Before this week, I have not heard of flipped learning until we discussed it in class. Flipped learning should not be used all of the time; it is recommended for this type of learning to be used a few times a week within the classroom environment. The concept of flipped learning consists of having students watch a lector/lesson on their own outside of class and then come to class the next day to discuss that particular topic.

Over the course of my educational career, I struggled to find out what type of learner I was. At first, I thought that I was an audio learner, but that quickly became totally wrong. After many trails and error with different styles of learning, I discovered that I was a visual learner. Ever since that moment, I discovered my learning style; my performance in and outside the classroom began to change dramatically for the better. I started noticing that I needed someone to explain a topic while showing me how to do it step by step; this followed me into my undergraduate experience.

During my undergraduate education, I was being exposed, not to my knowledge at all, to flipped learning. My professor would record lesson about different sections to the body and explain the different parts of anatomy, along with the special test to identified musculosketal injuries. This audio/visual lecture allowed us to learn different material before the start of class so that we did not have to spend as much time on the basics, which meant that we could actually practice the special tests. At first, I did not like this idea of learning because I was so used to a teacher standing in front of the classroom and lecturing on all the material I needed to know. I did struggle to have the desire to put in all the extra work due to a busy schedule with basketball and clinical hours, and also thinking my professor was a bit crazy. But, after the semesters and years went by I really started to like this idea because I got to learn the material at my own pace and could get all my questions answer in class. Putting that time and effort really did help my overall understanding of the subjects of Athletic Training, which in return made me a better student in all of my subjects during my undergraduate experience.

I think flipped learning should be used in moderate at first so that the students get use to the idea of having to learn the material on their own and outside of the traditional classroom. Also I think that flipped learning can be effective with certain subjects and age groups. We as educator must find that happy medium between the traditional classroom and the flipped classroom.