Action Research Project: A Flipped Classroom

Kristine Evans

Coastal Carolina University

EDIT 677: Assessment, Technology, and Learning Analytics

The research question I would like to answer is based on findings in my classroom. As a

math teacher, I give homework four nights a week: Monday through Thursday. There are

students in my classroom who have a hard time completing their homework at night, due to the

fact that they do not understand the material. The question I would like to propose is, would

students benefit from a flipped classroom? A flipped classroom is the idea that students will

watch a video or tutorial at home that teaches the students the skill that will be practiced the

following day in school.

The process of this method begins by posting an assignment on Google Classroom each

day and monitoring which students have completed the assignment. When the students get to

class, they will have the opportunity to ask me questions, practice the skill, and work with other

students to master the skill. My hour long teaching blocks can sometimes feel rushed introducing

a new lesson. Between notes, engaging in practice activities, and digital content, a flipped

classroom not only forces students to obtain a grasp on mathematics, but it also taps into the

mentality of solving problems on their own. I believe a flipped classroom will give the students

more opportunities to work in small groups and participate in more engaging activities in the

time restraints we have.

During the last unit in my general education Math 7 class, I incorporated the flipped

classroom approach to see whether the results of the final exam were better than the other

general Math 7 class that did not use the flipped classroom approach. The class that is not

“flipped” will be utilizing most of the class period learning the information, partaking in an

activity, and completing homework daily. This class is also my co-taught special education class.

The class that is participating in the flipped classroom will be learning the material at home on a

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device, whether it is a computer, laptop, smart phone, iPad, etc. Once back in the classroom,

students will have the opportunity to work in stations with their peers to practice the skill they

learned at home.

Review of Literature

The traditional classroom is generally comprised of a teacher-led lesson, a short activity

to reinforce the lesson, and some sort of homework assignment. The flipped classroom has the

students learning the material from home, via a post on their Google classroom. The

practice/homework will be done in the classroom with the help of teacher and other classmates in

the class. Not much practice of this approach has been implemented, but according to (Finkel,

2012), “Educators say that flipped learning can greatly increase a teacher’s ability to provide

differentiated instruction given that students work at their own pace in the classroom—and

teachers can provide more challenging work for those who are breezing through.” This creates a

more personalized learning experience for the students and adds more differentiation throughout

the classroom. If a student is having difficulty with a concept, he or she can hit pause or rewind

the video that was posted as many times as needed. This also allows the teacher to pull small

groups for students who are still struggling with the concept after the lesson was presented to the

student. In addition to Finkel, (Nwosisi, 2016) also states that, “The Flipped instruction concept

facilitates interaction among students, and between students and their Instructors. Flipped

instruction leads to better learning results. This concept helps students to effectively learn to

acquire skill, knowledge, and also to show a good attitude towards learning.” With this being

said, according to the research, the flipped classroom can be an effective tool in the modern-day

classroom. It can create more efficient ways to promote student learning, spark student interest,

and facilitate student collaboration in the classroom.

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Methodology

The flipped classroom approach took place over our last unit, “Unit 9 – Angles,

Triangles, and Quadrilaterals”. According to the Horry County Schools Consensus Document,

this unit should take 10 days, but we completed the unit in 8 days. The unit began on a Thursday,

and the test was administered on the following Friday. Before the unit began, I explained the

flipped classroom approach to the students and they were going to be implementing this

throughout the unit. After a lot of questions and a little doubt, they understood the concept and

generally seemed excited to begin. The standards we covered in this unit were 7.GM.5 “Write

equations to solve problems involving the relationships between angles formed by two

intersecting lines, including supplementary, complementary, vertical, and adjacent” and 7.GM.2

“Construct triangles and special quadrilaterals using a variety of tools (e.g., freehand, ruler and

protractor, technology)”.

Before the first day began, I posted a video of myself showing the students the difference

between supplementary, complementary, vertical, and adjacent angles formed by two

intersecting lines on my Google Classroom. Each student was required to watch the video and

take notes in their notebook. The students were able to pause and rewind the video as needed, as

well as watch it as many times as needed. I also attached the notes I wrote in the video as a

Google Doc, in case the students were not able to follow the video quickly enough to take notes.

If the students had any questions, they were asked to write them down to ask in class the next

day. When the first day of the lesson arrived, I began with a warm-up asking the students to

identify the difference between supplementary, complementary, vertical and adjacent angles. The

students did amazing with the warm-up and really understood the concept. I then asked the entire

class for questions about the notes, and answered very mathematically thought out questions.

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 After, I was about 10 minutes into class, and had 50 minutes left. I created three 15-

minute stations for the students to work at. One station had the students complete a handout with

a partner. The next station had the students complete a matching activity; matching the angle,

picture, equation, and value of x. The final station had the students work on their “Geometry” pie

slice in ALEKS. I set the timer for 15 minutes per station, and I was thoroughly impressed with

how well the students worked together to enhance their knowledge of these angle types. Their

homework for that night was to go home and re-watch the videos as a review. The next day, the

students continued working on their three rotations and I was excited to see how many students

had mastered this skill in such a short amount of time.

Over the weekend, I posted three different assignments that the students had to complete.

To complete the assignments, the students needed to take home a protractor. The first was a

PowerPoint presentation on my Google Classroom on the triangle inequality theorem explaining

what the triangle inequality theorem was and how to find the missing side lengths, as well as the

angle measures in a triangle. The second assignment I posted on my Google Classroom was a

video of me explaining to the students how to construct a triangle using a protractor. I showed

the students how to construct different kinds of triangles including an isosceles, scalene, right,

and equilateral triangle; as well as what to do when the side lengths do not create a triangle. The

last assignment I posted on my Google Classroom was another video of me explaining how to

construct multiple quadrilaterals using a protractor. I showed the students how to construct a

rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, and a trapezoid; having the students take notes on each.

On Monday, we began class with a few warm-up questions that focused on the material

that the students had learned over the weekend. I noticed a lot of students were having difficulty

constructing triangles and quadrilaterals on their own. I took some time and reviewed how to

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draw triangles and quadrilaterals whole group. I modeled a few figures, then allowed the students

to work together to help each other construct the figures. While the students were working

together, I walked around observing the student’s work and helping the students as needed. After

approximately 45 minutes, the students were surely getting a better grasp on the skill. I gave the

students an end-of-class exit slip to see which students were understanding the skill and which

students needed some remediation. When I graded the exit slips, I noticed that a few students

were still having difficulty. Those students would be having more one-on-one time with me

during the next few days. That night, the students were asked to review the videos and study

what we had been learning.

Over the next two days, I split the class into two and created rotation stations to give the

students more practice with the skills we were learning. The first station had the students

working with me, as well as working together to construct different quadrilaterals and triangles

using their protractors. The students who were struggling with the exit slip sat with me in a small

group to review the skill. I told the students they were able to work together to help each other,

and that the assignment would be graded. At the next station, the students were asked to use their

Chromebooks to log onto ALEKS. On ALEKS, they were asked to go to their “Lines, Angles,

and Polygons” slice. In this slice, they were to work on topics of either constructing triangles,

constructing quadrilaterals, identifying supplementary, complementary, adjacent, and vertical

angles, or writing and solving equations using different angle types. The students had to

complete at least three topics in order to get a 100% as a participation grade for the day.

Throughout those two days, I monitored the students closely, worked in small groups with the

students, and I was able to conference individually with multiple students. Overall, I felt the

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students were doing a great job and they were really understanding the concepts and standards

that were being taught.

Thursday was our review day. The students received a study guide which included

everything we have taught throughout this unit and the standards 7.GM.5 and 7.GM.2. The

students had the entire class period to work together to complete the study guide. If they had any

questions they were more than welcome to ask a classmate they were working with or they could

ask a teacher in the room. I always let the students work together during a study guide because I

call this practice for the actual test that they will be taking the following day. The students did a

fantastic job helping each other, motivating each other, and ensuring their group members were

understanding the material. I monitored the students closely and worked with different groups as

needed. Since the class is a general Math 7 class, the students’ ability levels are fairly close,

which makes working in groups very successful. Whatever material the students could not

complete on the study guide was their homework. Thursday night the students were asked to

review and study all of the materials, including the videos, which I had posted in my Google

Classroom as they prepared for their test the next day.

The unit assessment was given on Friday. The assessment was teacher-made and was a

paper-pencil exam, due to the fact that the students were required to hand-draw specific figures.

The students were required to use a protractor to complete their test. The assessment consisted of

questions identifying and solving equations with supplementary, complementary, vertical, and

adjacent angles, determining whether triangles can be made with specific measures, and

sketching certain triangles and quadrilaterals. The students with a 504 plan or ILP plan were

given the directions and the test was read aloud to them in a small group setting according to

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their accommodations. The students who finished the test early, were asked to log onto USA

Test Prep and complete a benchmark to kick off our SC Ready test prep.

Analysis

After I graded the tests, I compared the results of the flipped classroom with my other

general Math 7 class. I analyzed each question and tallied how many students got each question

correct from each class. I then took the data and broke it down to see how many students earned

an A, how many earned a B, how many earned a C, how many earned a D, and how many

students failed the exam. I broke this up into percentages and created two pie charts, which are

shown below. Based on the results, it was very clear that the students who participated in the

flipped classroom approach generally scored better on the unit assessment. In Block 2, 46% of

the students earned an A using the flipped classroom, which was compared to 24% in the other

class. The number of students who earned a B was very similar in both models, but the number

of students who earned a C in the flipped classroom model was 14% less than the students who

did not participate in the flipped classroom model. It seemed the amount of students earning a D

or failing the exam was very similar. Overall, the students who participated in the flipped

classroom approach, generally scored higher.

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Students in Block 1 who took the Angles Test without the Flipped Classroom

Students in Block 2 who took the Angles Test using the Flipped Classroom

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Findings

Upon studying the results, I have come to the conclusion that the flipped classroom

model promotes student understanding of the material and makes students more accountable for

their own learning. When I introduced the concept to the students, their interest was sparked, and

they were excited to try something different. The students enjoyed coming into the classroom,

working in small groups, collaborating with their classmates, and being able to have the time to

ask their peers and myself questions about the material they had already learned. The students

felt more prepared for class each day. The mathematical conversations were increased and the

students enjoyed the different activities we were able to accomplish each day in class. Moving

forward, I am very excited to utilize and implement the flipped classroom approach in more of

my classes. We have completed all of the 7th grade math standards for the year and have begun

SC Ready practice, so for the remainder of this school year I will not be able to use the flipped

classroom approach again. Over the summer, I am going to do more research and plan more

units using the flipped classroom approach in my general Math 7 classes.

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References

Finkel, E. (2012, November 15). Flipping the Script in K21.Retrieved from

https://www.districtadministration.com/article/flipping-script-k12

Nwosisi, C., Ferreira, A., Rosenberg, W., & Walsh, K. (2016). A Study of the Flipped Classroom

and Its Effectiveness in Flipping Thirty Percent of the Course Content. International

Journal of Information and Education Technology,6(5), 348-351.

doi:10.7763/ijiet.2016.v6.712

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