Case study: The longer-term benefits of COVID-era flipped classroom techniques for a core PGT MA skills module

Department of History of Art
Nicola Sinclair

Nicola Sinclair outlines some of the longer-term benefits of COVID-era flipped classroom techniques for a core PGT MA skills module in the History of Art Department. During the remote phases of the Pandemic, Nicola shifted from a workshop-only teaching structure to a blend of online activities and shorter workshops carried out synchronously online. Since the return to campus, she has continued with this structure, asking students to complete short online tasks and bring specific outputs to the workshops for discussion and group work activities. Whilst feedback suggested that students valued longer face-to-face workshops, it also showed that they appreciated the balance between more supported independent and face to face work.

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The longer-term Benefits of COVID-era Flipped Classroom Techniques for a Core PGT MA Skills Module (Panopto viewer) (2 mins 23 secs, UoY log-in required)

Transcript

COVID made me rethink the way we taught our core research skills and methods in the History of Art module to my students.

Before COVID, it was taught in two hour workshops over two terms as a ten credit module. Those workshops, plus the assessment, accounted for the available teaching credit hours, leaving very little time for preparation tasks before the workshops. Instead, students were expected to apply what they learnt in those workshops to their independent research interests afterwards. It was hard to make workshops relevant to a diverse cohort with very different research areas. And the structure promoted transmission style learning that was inappropriate and did not maximise the potential for collaborative learning within a diverse peer group case.

COVID created the impetus to break free from this structure, flip the classroom and try online tools via a highly structured VLE. So during the COVID year, they worked through theme-related tasks in ways relevant to their own interest first. This meant students were well-prepared for the shorter face to face workshops. To break down barriers to engagement in those Zoom meetings, I used breakout groups, mentimeter and other strategies. This resulted in a more collaborative, conversational style of learning where everyone could bring something to the table in order to share and generate knowledge about the research process in the discipline.

That worked well for COVID. But could we justify online learning and shorter workshops following this structure once teaching returned to campus? It turned out we could, and it worked surprisingly well.

I followed the same structure with a stronger emphasis on preparing specific outcomes to bring to the workshops. It was really important to clearly communicate the rationale for this mode of learning throughout the module. This resulted in a secure, collaborative learning environment. Workshops were dominated by really lively, small group discussions. Formal and informal feedback showed that students did want longer workshops, but they liked the balance of independent and face to face work. Several students even said to me that they thought the module really was core to their MA programme. Yippee! Flipping the classroom seems so obvious. But the COVID hiatus forced us to try something we would never have imagined and probably would not even have worked before. If freed the potential of the material to be accessed in ways that are most meaningful to individuals with different needs and interests.

All this is informing the way we restructure this module for semesterisation, where it doubled in credit size, yet halved teaching time. The flipped classroom will really come into its own there, and this experience gives us confidence to try it.