, we find this an interesting perspective to consider in the dialogue about how teachers will respond to blended learning."
I just wanted to share an alternative perspective from faculty at San Jose State, which covers a lot of my own concerns as a college professor in the social sciences.
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Document-Open-Letter-From/138937/Much of the discussion here has focused on science and math classes so I wanted to add that these are not the only disciplines facing the "flip" dilemma. Dad22, I can appreciate your enthusiasm for the apparent flexibility the approach seems to make possible. However, I am very cynical about what these classrooms would look like in practice. I think the likely result is the further devaluing of the teaching profession (at the college level, flipped classrooms could easily result in online "professors" from afar and TAs in the classroom. Bye-bye faculty.) And yes this is a job preservation issue for faculty, but it is also about quality of education provided to students. It is also a broader social issue. Do we want a society in which the chosen elite get to have real professors and ask their questions in a face-to-face format and everyone else gets canned videos with ever less qualified teaching assistants? There are some deeper questions here that should be considered.
And as a social sciences professor, I must point out that the examples given here, as someone mentioned above, seem to be more about transferring information rather than teaching concepts and ideas. Can someone really learn about democracy, or social justice, or philosophy or racism or political theory from watching a lecture? When there are multiple perspectives on a subject that must be examined, interpreted, and critiqued, I don't see how this approach could result in independent, critical thinkers, which is the number one goal I have for my students. In fact, it seems antithetical to that goal. It leads students to believe that there is ONE right answer to a question and the answer to that question is whatever the authority figure in the video says it is. This teaches students to be followers not independent thinkers. Thesis, evidence, logical argument. Defend your position in a classroom full of students (and a knowledgeable free thinking instructor) who will challenge and question you and perhaps even bring a new idea or perspective to you that you had not thought of before. This classroom experience develops a learning community, as mentioned above, but it also develops students who not only come to the answers themselves, but who can also use evidence and logic effectively and communicate their ideas clearly. Granted, these things are often not happening in live classrooms, but I don't see how it could happen at all in the flipped classroom.
I think Val and Howler Karma have made some valid points on why this approach might be problematic for the sciences. I would like to suggest that there are some serious concerns here for society and civil discourse as well.
