Practicing Flipped Classroom in Undergraduate Mathematics Courses: A Case Study in Qatar

Flipped classroom is a student centered approach, in which students are responsible for their own learning and actively participate in class activities. Basically, in a flipped classroom what is traditionally done in class is done at home, and what is traditionally done as homework is accomplished in the class. In particular, in a traditional mathematics classroom, the pattern of teaching takes the form of explaining the topics to students, introducing formulas, and solving a number of questions. Then, students are given worksheets to do at home for practicing similar questions that were solved in the classroom. However, in a flipped classroom this pattern is turned upside down. Primarily, students study the topic on their own before going to the classroom, by watching online videos and revising other course materials. Then, in the classroom, the time is devoted to interactive activities with which students have the chance to practice the information and solve problems. The results of research studies clearly show that flipped classroom approach transforms the classroom environment into a dynamic and interactive place, where students have the chance to internalize the knowledge instead of merely acquiring it. While using this approach, teachers act as a guide rather than knowledge transmitter, being responsible for preparing appropriate course materials, helping students, addressing their questions, and providing feedback. Here, it is important to note that flipped learning is not a synonym for watching online videos. The power of flipped learning comes from the interaction that occurs during the face to face time in the class, which is actually the most important part of learning. For an effective learning, teachers should begin the lesson with discussing the online videos first, and if students ask similar questions on a particular topic then the teacher should cover the topic in the classroom before doing the assignment of the day. Until now, flipped classroom approach has been used mostly at university level. However, it is currently being practiced at primary and secondary school levels too. It is a powerful approach to teaching because first of all it helps students to become learners who can learn for themselves and by themselves. Next, it helps students who struggle to learn during class time and students who go through the motions of learning but do not get the deeper objectives of the class. With flipped learning approach, teachers can cover more contents and address students' misconceptions immediately as they arise. Moreover, students in flipped classroom feel more motivated to learn as they have more space to try out things themselves and more chance for student involvement, task orientation, and innovation. This study gives details about flipped classroom approach, and share experiences of a mathematics instructor implementing flipped learning for over two years in three of her undergraduate mathematics courses. The flipped courses were prepared for students enrolled in engineering and science programs at an international university, located at the State of Qatar. A structured interview was conducted during the spring semester of 2014/2015 academic year. The interview questions mainly focused on the pros and cons of using flipped classroom, how the instructor prepared the online course materials, the kind of difficulties faced in the classroom, how students reacted to this new way of learning, and the change in her students' level of learning after using flipped classroom. Briefly, the interview results revealed that the instructor liked using flipped classroom because in the beginning of the lesson she could get an immediate sense of students' understanding or lack of understanding, so she could tailor the instruction according to their needs and clear up the common misconceptions. She stated the length of videos to be the most challenging aspect in flipped learning, because nowadays students favor tasks that are fast, easy and not demanding. However, she claimed that once students get used to flipped learning, they enjoy learning, retain information for longer time, and become more motivated to solve problems that are new to them. The interview questions and the instructor's responses are given in detail, and recommendations are made for educational practice.