An Academic Flipped Classroom Model

For a few years now the flipped classroom has been a pedagogical hot topic in the library and teaching professions.  Though much has been written and discussed on the topic, academic models particularly for graduate students are not as easy to find.  The concept itself is fairly simple – self-paced, online instruction that occurs outside the classroom prepares the student to engage in hands-on learning activities in the classroom.  Implementing the concept in a meaningful way, however, takes a good deal of planning and preparation.  University of Minnesota librarians Lisa Johnston and Jon Jeffryes have done just that.  Last fall semester (2013) they offered an extracurricular (noncredit) Data Management Workshop Series to University of Minnesota graduate students.  It was advertised as a “Flipped Classroom” series that included seven online video lessons (each 3-9 minutes long) and five (one hour long) in-person workshop sessions.  Overall the series was successful with the students and instructors who gave the librarians positive feedback for improvements.  Johnston and Jeffryes invite you to take a look at their materials and feel free to use them in whatever way works for you.  To learn more about the workshop series, read their article in C&RL News.