Implementation report 1
Plan description: a flipped learning approach
I taught a remote biology lab using a flipped learning approach where students are asked to complete readings, recorded lectures, and pre-lab quizzes before class time. I started a class with an informal conversation (i.e., knowledge check), checking whether students knew what we would be learning in class by asking students the pre-lab quiz questions students already completed before class. Next, I gave a mini-lecture (5-10 minutes) to recap what students learned from the online portions and connect the prior knowledge to the current class activity. Then, I put students in breakout rooms of 3-4 people for a group discussion that lasted about 30 minutes. Students were asked to collaboratively work in their lab activities and complete answer sheets in the breakout room. I also encouraged students in each breakout room to use a shared document (i.e., Google doc.) to know who was working on each task. This flipped classroom design's primary goal was to expose students to class materials before class and use class time for an interactive discussion. I used the breakout rooms and shared documents to increase student learning engagements.
Implementation:
Overall, the flipped learning design for asynchronous online class allows students to explore knowledge outside of class and collaborative discussion during class. Most students were prepared before class and completed their work by the end of class time. I found that student engagement was pretty high compared to the lab sessions at the beginning of the semester. Most students participated in the class discussion in their comfortable ways (e.g., asking questions in a big classroom, in a small group discussion, or chatting). I checked the students in the breakout rooms every 10 to 20 minutes, and I found that many students were more comfortable sharing their insight and asking questions in the smaller groups of students. However, I found that two groups were not quite engaged as all students in the breakout rooms did not talk to each other (camera off and mic muted), and I had no clue whether they were working on their work independently or were doing something else.
Reflection:
After the implementation, I found that students in the class seemed to have different degree preparations and engagements. A few students didn’t understand what they were expected to complete during class, and a few students did not encourage the class discussion at all. It was difficult for me to know what students were doing behind their computers while attending the lab. In the future, I plan to continue the flipped learning approach and increase collaborative activities so that students will have to work with their groups during lab. I will also plan to assign in-class goals by asking students to share their preliminary results or a portion of their answer sheets with me before leaving the lab (student’s answer sheets are typically due two weeks after class).
Plan description: a flipped learning approach
I taught a remote biology lab using a flipped learning approach where students are asked to complete readings, recorded lectures, and pre-lab quizzes before class time. I started a class with an informal conversation (i.e., knowledge check), checking whether students knew what we would be learning in class by asking students the pre-lab quiz questions students already completed before class. Next, I gave a mini-lecture (5-10 minutes) to recap what students learned from the online portions and connect the prior knowledge to the current class activity. Then, I put students in breakout rooms of 3-4 people for a group discussion that lasted about 30 minutes. Students were asked to collaboratively work in their lab activities and complete answer sheets in the breakout room. I also encouraged students in each breakout room to use a shared document (i.e., Google doc.) to know who was working on each task. This flipped classroom design's primary goal was to expose students to class materials before class and use class time for an interactive discussion. I used the breakout rooms and shared documents to increase student learning engagements.
Implementation:
Overall, the flipped learning design for asynchronous online class allows students to explore knowledge outside of class and collaborative discussion during class. Most students were prepared before class and completed their work by the end of class time. I found that student engagement was pretty high compared to the lab sessions at the beginning of the semester. Most students participated in the class discussion in their comfortable ways (e.g., asking questions in a big classroom, in a small group discussion, or chatting). I checked the students in the breakout rooms every 10 to 20 minutes, and I found that many students were more comfortable sharing their insight and asking questions in the smaller groups of students. However, I found that two groups were not quite engaged as all students in the breakout rooms did not talk to each other (camera off and mic muted), and I had no clue whether they were working on their work independently or were doing something else.
Reflection:
After the implementation, I found that students in the class seemed to have different degree preparations and engagements. A few students didn’t understand what they were expected to complete during class, and a few students did not encourage the class discussion at all. It was difficult for me to know what students were doing behind their computers while attending the lab. In the future, I plan to continue the flipped learning approach and increase collaborative activities so that students will have to work with their groups during lab. I will also plan to assign in-class goals by asking students to share their preliminary results or a portion of their answer sheets with me before leaving the lab (student’s answer sheets are typically due two weeks after class).
Students were asked to watch a recorded lecture on the t-test calculation and the lab report before class.
Students collaboratively worked together in a small discussion group using a shared document. At the end of the lab, students were asked to show a progress before they could leave the class.