Flipped Classroom Implementation: A Case Report of Two Higher Education Institutions in the United States and Australia

Abstract

This case report explored the implementation of flipped classrooms at two higher education institutions. Experiences and publications from the institutions were used to identify and describe common themes, including successes and challenges encountered along with potential solutions to common misalignments, particularly as related to technology-enhanced learning. Strategies for selecting and delivering pre-class content, designing and implementing in-class activities, and identifying and using assessments to inform practice are described. Overall design considerations include instructor skill development, student buy-in, and institutional support for the model. This report highlights several critical approaches to effectively designing and implementing the flipped classroom model, with consideration given to the use of technology to support this innovation.     

Do maternal concerns at delivery predict parenting stress during infancy?

OBJECTIVE: In a previous study, we found that new mothers could and would express concerns about their parenting, including concerns about maltreatment and poor care. In this study, we examine the utility of early maternal concerns for predicting parenting stress in the first year. Parenting stress is important because it has been shown to be related to maltreatment and poor parent-child relationships. METHOD: A sample of 246 mothers were interviewed shortly after delivery in a publicly funded hospital about their parenting concerns, and 93% were reinterviewed in their homes about their parenting when the infants were 6 to 12 months old. Standardized measures with demonstrated psychometric properties were employed, including a measure of parenting stress due to the demands of the parenting role, characteristics of the child that make him or her difficult to care for, and stress due to difficult interactions. RESULTS: Multiple regression results indicate that both mothers concerns at delivery and sociodemographic variables are significant predictors of all three types of parenting stress in infancy. Maternal concerns were more powerful than sociodemographics in predicting stress related to the demands of parenting, while sociodemographics were more powerful for the prediction of stress related to difficult child characteristics and difficult mother-infant interaction. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that knowledge of new mothers' parenting concerns might be useful for predicting parenting problems, as well as for engaging mothers' in and enhancing the effectiveness of parenting services.     

Maternal Expectations for Toddlers' Reactions to Novelty: Relations of Maternal Internalizing Symptoms and Parenting Dimensions to Expectations and Accuracy of Expectations

OBJECTIVE: Although maternal internalizing symptoms and parenting dimensions have been linked to reports and perceptions of children's behavior, it remains relatively unknown whether these characteristics relate to expectations or the accuracy of expectations for toddlers' responses to novel situations. DESIGN: A community sample of 117 mother-toddler dyads participated in a laboratory visit and questionnaire completion. At the laboratory, mothers were interviewed about their expectations for their toddlers' behaviors in a variety of novel tasks; toddlers then participated in these activities, and trained coders scored their behaviors. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing demographics, depressive and worry symptoms, and parenting dimensions. RESULTS: Mothers who reported more worry expected their toddlers to display more fearful behavior during the laboratory tasks, but worry did not moderate how accurately maternal expectations predicted toddlers' observed behavior. When also reporting a low level of authoritative-responsive parenting, maternal depressive symptoms moderated the association between maternal expectations and observed toddler behavior, such that, as depressive symptoms increased, maternal expectations related less strongly to toddler behavior. CONCLUSIONS: When mothers were asked about their expectations for their toddlers' behavior in the same novel situations from which experimenters observe this behavior, symptoms and parenting had minimal effect on the accuracy of mothers' expectations. When in the context of low authoritative-responsive parenting, however, depressive symptoms related to less accurate predictions of their toddlers' fearful behavior.     

The role of attitudinal factors in mathematical on-line assessments: a study of undergraduate STEM students

This study explores student attitudes to the use of substantive on-line assessments that require mathematical answers. Since there is limited guidance available for their use in a university setting, our goal is to learn what are the important aspects in student acceptance of e-assessments that support learning of mathematical subjects in higher education. To that end we analyse the effects of a variety of attitudinal factors towards such assessments amongst a cross-section of first year students in an English university, using a detailed questionnaire. These students were all previously exposed to on-line assessments containing substantial mathematical work, including testing of and feedback on the algebraic structure of their answers, based on identifiable misconceptions underlying these answers. Since students received highly tailored feedback, the expectation was that the usefulness of this feedback would be the key driver in their usage of educational technology. The results indeed suggest that students find on-line feedback more enjoyable and useful than conventional feedback, but enjoyment and attitude are the two most important factors.     

Students’ perceptions of learning about qualitative inquiry in online contexts

ABSTRACT

This paper reports findings from a 2-year study of online coursework in a graduate certificate program in qualitative research methods in the USA. Thirty-four interviews with students enrolled in coursework offered over a 2-year period were analyzed to explore their perceptions of engagement with the course content and one another. Findings are related to student perceptions of their learning to (1) value the course design and structure, (2) make authentic connections in the absence of physical proximity, and (3) appreciate feedback from others.

These themes are considered in light of principles of qualitative pedagogy outlined by scholars of qualitative methods, and the community of inquiry (CoI) model, in which social, cognitive, and teacher presence support student learning. Findings provide insight into the processes by which students’ engagement with course content and interactions with instructor and peers contribute to the development of a CoI involving cognitive, social, and teacher presence. Although the learning context described in this study pertains to teaching graduate-level qualitative research methods, findings are relevant to teachers of other subject areas.     

Preschool emotional competence: pathway to social competence?

Preschoolers' (N = 143) patterns of emotional expressiveness, emotion regulation, and emotion knowledge were assessed. Their contributions to social competence, as evidenced by sociometric likability and teacher ratings, were evaluated via latent variable modeling, both concurrently and across time. Moderation of key results by age and sex was also explored. Emotional competence assessed at 3 to 4 years of age contributed to both concurrent and kindergarten social competence. Even early in the preschool period, contributions of emotional competence to social competence have long-term implications.     

Q-Sort Assessment of Child-Teacher Attachment Relationships and Social Competence in the Preschool

The implications of the attachment relationship between children and their preschool teachers was investigated. Sixty-two preschool-age children and their teachers were studied to assess relations between the quality of attachment relationships and social competence. Results indicate that attachment security with teacher is related to prosocial behavior and teacher-rated social competence in the preschool. In addition, evidence suggests that when the child-mother attachment relationship is insecure, a secure attachment relationship with a preschool teacher may partially compensate for the insecure relationship. Children who were insecurely attached to mother but securely attached to teacher had higher teacher-rated social competence, were more prosocial, and were more positive emotionally than children who were insecurely attached to both mother and teacher.     

Feeling like a fraud: Helping students renegotiate their academic identities

A sense of belonging is an integral aspect of success in a long-term, group-oriented endeavor such as the pursuit of a college education. When students feel their presence at college is fraudulent, their achievements unfounded, or that they will be further disenfranchised if their true self is discovered, it is less likely that they will connect to the people who and services that can help them achieve their educational goals. This “imposter syndrome” or “imposter phenomenon” can be addressed and turned around through a concerted effort. While that effort involves a personal journey, like any journey it is often aided and accompanied by others. Through strategic outreach efforts, academic libraries are positioned to be important players in that journey, helping these “imposters” renegotiate their self-images to include a sense of their essential place in academia and belief in their ability to successfully complete their academic goals.     

Advocacy leadership and the deprofessionalising of the special educational needs co-ordinator role

The UK government is proposing to replace M-level national award for special educational needs co-ordination training, mandated for SENCos in England, with an unaccredited national professional qualification. Such downgrading of their qualification level is intended to significantly increase the number of qualified SENCos; however, this is likely to reduce SENCos' capacity to exercise ‘advocacy leadership’ in support of students at risk of marginalization and social exclusion. We reject a neoliberal political discourse of continual improvement that neglects the need for critical literacy and research-informed inclusive practice on the part of SENCos, and suggest that endemic exclusionary practices in English schools are more likely to go unchallenged. The move towards nonaccredited SENCo status risks their deprofessionalisation, and this proposal is linked to an academisation agenda and efforts to normalize a trichotomised education system (comprising mainstream, ‘special’ and ‘alternative’ provision) by presenting such changes as an improvement.