Flipping The Secondary Mathematics Classroom: Teachers’ Perceptions on the Use of Video Instruction

The Flipped Classroom is an instructional strategy that reverses the traditional classroom that is more teacher-directed learning, to an environment where it is more student-centred and the instructor acts a facilitator. This is achieved through technology, where students can access teacher instructional videos online through different media sources. Four secondary school mathematical teachers took part in the initial stages of the research study, where I conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Out of the four participants, one participant went further with this research study, that included observing his class, viewing his videos, post interviews after each class, and perceptions of student surveys once the observation period was completed. The observation period took place over five months, which included reviewing instructional videos used in the participant’s flipped classroom along with in-class observations of the participant’s teaching. At the end of the observation period, students took an online survey based on their engagement and experiences regarding the flipped classroom. An exit interview was also conducted at the end of the observation period with this participant, in order to get a better understanding of their experiences and challenges within the flipped classroom. The themes reported as strengths of video instruction included: flipped classroom engagement, student interactions, and mitigating learner challenges. However, when identifying challenges, themes included: technology, lack of student engagement, time, and buy-in. The main four findings of this research are: (1) students were in favour of shorter video instruction; (2) videos that provided multiple examples with different levels of difficulty helped with learning; (3) students preferred a blend between the non-flipped classroom as well as a flipped classroom format; and (4) students benefited from having teacher-directed instruction at the beginning of class as a way to engage with the material. The flipped classroom is a model of teaching that could help teachers implement strategies that hold students accountable for their learning. The flipped classroom can provide opportunities for students to become more familiar and comfortable with the use of technology. Flipped learning can provide students that may struggle with mental health, like student anxiety, a pathway to learning through a combination of independent learning and reflection, collaboration, active learning and one-on-one conversations with their teacher.Ed.D.2020-07-10 00:00:0