How It Began: the Flipped Classroom in Beginning German
When I began flipping two levels of my Beginning German courses in
2014, I didn't realize that I should have prepared my pre-class modules long before
the semester started. Big mistake! I ended up using most of my weekends,
holidays, and all of spring break, even pulling a few all-nighters, to produce
meaningful digitally delivered content for my students and to enhance my
standard in-class activities. After all, due to the routine lessons now being
watched before class, I could offer more sophisticated instruction in my
courses, and I wanted to use every minute of my newly gained classroom time for
deeper levels of learning. Nearly all my students were enthusiastic about this
new approach to learning the German language, so I knew that my efforts were
worthwhile.
Despite the encouraging feedback from my learners, I deem this
first flipped semester a Feuertaufe,
a baptism by fire, due to the immense level of preparation required when one jumps
into flipping without experience. Each subsequent semester, I tweaked my
flipped classrooms more. I started to hold my students accountable for their pre-class
preparation; added more cultural content to the chapters in our textbook; created
daily tasks to establish a running theme for each chapter; calibrated the
amounts of time spent on reading, writing, listening, and speaking for each
task; scaffolded the flow of those daily tasks to culminate in a chapter group
project; and finally shifted the way I assessed progress in learning from
written exams to in-class project performances. It was only when my flipped
classrooms encompassed the last improvement that I realized that we had reached
a new level in this pedagogical adventure: flipped learning!
So, what is the difference between the flipped classroom and
flipped learning in my courses? I would argue it’s the extent to which
higher-level learning occurs in a class.
In the flipped classroom,
the conventional instructor output is moved to pre-class delivery, thus freeing
up in-class time for the application of the material. That was what I experienced
in the early semesters of flipped German and this is how my students still
prepare for our work in class.
Example: Three of my videos or PowerPoint
presentations explain (in English) what a relative pronoun is and how relative
clauses are formed in the German language. The worksheets filled out by my
students while they watch the digital content require them to note down the rules
for relative clauses, to fill out the charts for (specific and generic) relative
pronouns, and to fill in the blanks in a few exercises to get their brains
working. After-viewing online quizzes reinforce this preparatory learning. By
the time learners come to class, they are primed to apply this information in a
more meaningful manner in teams of two to four partners. Since the chapter is
linked with vocabulary about German media, for example, student groups assume
the roles of reporter, editor, producer, and news anchor who all are tasked
with re-writing a clumsily written article that “begs” for relative clauses. How
it is edited is up to each team who must cut the verbiage down to five
sentences. This approach ensures that the grammar item is merely a tool for a learning
activity, not its end. Learners construct knowledge actively, in cooperation
and collaboration with their peers, and independently of the instructor who
merely monitors, but does not dictate the linguistic production occurring in
the educational space.
How It Looks Now: Flipped Learning in My Beginning German Courses
Now imagine that this task is only one of a series of interconnected team activities that will yield a final cultural project and an explanation for the impetus behind the cultural expression. This, in my view, is flipped learning in an L2 classroom.
Example: Students have navigated a chapter’s
content by completing scaffolded tasks that produce a polished newscast in
German, with contemporary events being reported in an objective fashion without
the banter and “fluffy” news often seen on American news shows. To create such an
authentic German newscast, students have watched many examples and analyzed
their goals (to deliver the facts with as much background data as possible) as
well as the viewers’ reasons for watching (to be informed so that they can form
an opinion and discuss the news item intelligently and confidently). In-class
discussions have drilled down to the motivation behind German news consumption,
the desire to accrue intellectual capital
in the form of political, economic, and social conclusions. This approach to
garner prestige stands in contrast to the typical American approach, which
focuses on possession and financial capital to signal status.
The focus on flipped learning has deeply enriched my students’ education
in my Beginning German courses. They are motivated to complete their projects
because these endeavors construct meaningful knowledge that goes beyond grammar
and vocabulary. They do not want to miss class because each absence reduces the
overall understanding built via the in-class tasks and impacts their teams’
efficiency. They want to complete their homework because the pre-class
preparations are necessary to carry out the team tasks in class. One of my
students in the very first flipped classroom noted: This innovative way of
teaching “connects students to German culture, fosters an intimate learning
environment between students. Fun, relevant, and always focused on improving
knowledge of German grammar, culture, and verbal skills.” Six semesters later,
another student who benefited from the flipped learning focus wrote:
One
of the biggest benefits of flipped learning for German was the fact that we
were learning more how to speak the language instead of just memorizing verbs
and vocabulary. This instead came more natural as we learned the language. We
also had more time to dive into the culture which for students like myself who
are planning to travel abroad was the biggest advantage. While it definitely
remedied the problem of assigning too much homework, there is a level of accountability
that you need to have to succeed in this class because it is still hard work.
It is work that challenged how we think which is better than having to memorize
anything.
Thank you for sharing this blog. This blog will help to improve my knowledge.
ReplyDeleteGerman Language Classes in Chennai | Best German Classes in Chennai
Danke, Mathi. I just educated myself a bit on Chennai and am surprised how much German education is going on there. I hope you will consider flipped learning (if you are an instructor) as a teaching approach.
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