FLIPPED CLASSROOM APPROACHES Suggestions for Larger Group In-Class Activities and Assessment

Group activities are often designed for the in-class portion of the flipped classroom. Each learner brings his or her own perspective and understanding of the content; usually working in small groups, they create a new understanding and perspectives. This helps build better context and recall for content.

Think-Pair-Share

Time on task: 5 to 15 minutes; Group size: 2

- Take a central concept presented in the out-of-class material or a particularly controversial quiz question from a prior assessment and ask learners to individually reflect on it then discuss it.
- Think: learners work independently to process their thoughts/arguments.
- Pair: learners discuss their response with a partner.
- Share: You facilitate responses from all members of the class and engage learners in a wider discussion demonstrating multiple perspectives (you might incorporate polling here or add a peer instruction task).

Affinity grouping

Time on task: 30 to 45 minutes; Group size: 3 to 5

- Learners individually write down ideas on a piece of paper and then in a group attempt to classify them while discussing why certain items deserve to be categorized together.
- This activity helps ensure learners are on the same page before embarking on a more complicated in-class activity.

Team matrix

Time on task: 10 to 20 minutes; Group size: 2

- When new concepts have been introduced that are quite similar to one another, a team matrix can help parse the most salient features of each concept while differentiating between them.
- Present pairs of learners with a list of characteristics that may or may not be shared between concepts and have the learners determine which characteristics belong to each (or both) concept(s).
- Discuss answers with the entire class afterwards to check comprehension.

Think-aloud pair problem solving

Time on task: 30 to 45 minutes; Group size: 2

- Present learners with a set of complex problems requiring multiple steps to solve.
- Pair learners: ask one to be the problem solver who explains their thought process applying what was learned out of class to developing a solution.
- The partner listens to this process, offers suggestions if there are difficulties, or expresses confusion if certain parts are difficult to understand.
- After the first problem is solved, ask the learners to switch roles and begin again.

Case studies

Time on task: 1 to 2 hours; Group size: 3 to 6

- Learners review a case study for a specific, real-life problem or scenario.
- Applying what they learned in the out-of-class portion of the flipped classroom, the group discusses how to tackle the problem and what solution they would prepare.
- Each group debriefs the rest of the class and presents their solution.

Source: In-class activities and assessment for the flipped classroom. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.