Research Paper on Flipped Classrooms and the Non-flipped Classrooms

Introduction

For this research, the researcher chose a 10 secondary schools within the Czech Republic, which were used for analysis. The researcher toured a few schools where teachers were given questionnaires with some questions to fill in. The questions in the questionnaires were shaped to be able to gather as much information as possible about flipped classrooms and the non-flipped classrooms. The researcher sought to know the perception of the teachers regarding these two models and which they preferred more. Besides, the researcher sought to know why teachers would prefer one method over the other based on the achievement of educational outcomes. The researcher also sought to know the motivation, knowledge and needs that teachers would require to implement flipped classrooms. The researcher sought to use a questionnaire as the instrument of data collection and analysis the results obtained on the basis of Kirkpatrick model of evaluation. The questionnaire used composed of an initial section elaborating the goal of the study as well as collecting anonymous demographic data.

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The flipped classroom is usually an innovative model, which is only implementable where there is technology. Without technology, the implementation of flipped classroom would not be possible. However, there are various factors, which have an effect on the use of technology in teaching methodologies. Some of these include the training of the teacher, pedagogies, level and availability of resources, ICT competence, teaching practices and positive attitude towards innovation.

In the Czech Republic, the teaching of English language is mostly done in the basic level since this is the level where learners are exposed to the skills and methodologies of language learning. The courses are designed to get the child to speak and write in standard English in a confident manner. At this stage, the foundation is set of the learner towards speaking English fluently. Besides, the learners are helped to communicate their thoughts as well as their opinions in a natural way. The lessons are designed to be as interactive to the learner as possible. Learners in the secondary level know how to engage properly in group work and how to take part in meaningful discussions.

Learners are also supposed to be grouped depending on age and the level of study so that they all move in a common pace. Additionally, this will help the learners to get individual attention that they require from the instructors to enable them achieve their English language goals. The learning of English in classroom setting will also involve the use of teachers who are experts in the language as they will be able to inspire and motivate them appropriately. Additionally, classes in the Czech Republic are designed in such a way that learners will be able to enjoy them by the use of modern, group-based activities, which are appropriate for the learning of teenagers. Through interactions and discussion supported by flipped classrooms, learners are able to build confidence and improve their self-esteem.

The flipped classroom is an innovative model, which greatly relies on the expertise of the teacher and the availability of technology. According to Kurt (2017), there are various factors, which may influence the use of technology in a classroom setting. Technology can greatly affect the teaching methodology. Since flipped classroom requires the use of technology, teachers must be trained adequately to be able to handle them correctly and in the most appropriate manner since any light fault in the use of technology may greatly affect the results. Thus, there is need to install an ICT infrastructure such as internet connectivity and tablets, smartphones or computers for use in flipped classrooms in Czech Republic. Learners need to have access to learning resources and watch videos that the teacher proposes before having the session in the classroom. Thus, it is mandatory for the learners to have proper access to technological infrastructure as well as internet connection at their homes and also in schools. The importance of having technological connection at home is that the learners will be able to continue with the lessons they learnt in school while still at home. This will help them to grasp the content in a better manner. Besides, it will make the work of the teacher easier since the teacher can decide to give some take away assignments to the students. Based on the above, one questionnaire given to the respondents will have questions about whether there is the necessary infrastructure to access the internet from their homes as it relates to hardware such as tablets, smartphones and computer and to the internet connection.

The data sets are accessible since they are public and thus, obtaining them was not a hard task. The advantage of using the public data set is that it allows one to filter data by various parameters as required (Kurt, 2017). Such data include age, the level of studies and the country. As a result, the researcher did not include any question in the questionnaire about the availability of ICT infrastructure in the Czech Republic since this is a fact that had already been researched on from the internet.

From data obtained from the Internet, the percentage of households with the availability of internet access in the Czech Republic was 82% (Eurostat, 2016). This was slightly below the median of EU, which is 85% (Eurostat, 2016). As such, the Czech Republic was in the required framework. The Czech Republic is regarded as one of the countries with a very vibrant Wi-Fi connection in the world. This is provided by the SPT Czech Telecom (CT), which formed the foundation of internet connectivity in the country. In the European Union, the Czech Republic has the highest number of Wi-Fi subscribers since close to 2,000 registered wireless internet service providers are registered in the Czech Republic bearing in mind that the country has about 10 million people (Eurostat, 2016). Wi-Fi is regarded as the first choice for internet in the Czech Republic as the number of subscribers keep on growing day by day. From the research, the researcher found out that there is a mobile application known as Wific (Get Out) which offers passwords to close to 4,000 Wi-Fi hot spots in the Czech Republic. This means that internet is available to almost any person who is willing to access it and at a very cheap cost.

Information from the internet also reveal that the Czech Republic has a very vibrant optic cable infrastructure, which works alongside the Wi-Fi network. The optic cables make use of the existing infrastructures and this cuts down in the Czech Republic uses oil and petrol pipes. Thus, by employing engineering infrastructure, the installers will not have to ask every property owner about installing a cable in his or her backyard.

The researcher also examined the interaction between learners and online instructional video, which were used in classical pedagogical experiment. This was done by visiting ongoing classes in secondary schools. While conducting this experiment, the researcher also investigated the academic performance of students. The researcher collected 54 students for the pedagogical experiment. The students were divided into two where one-half was used as the control group while the other one was used as the experimental class. The researcher used the control group, which he exposed to the traditional teaching methods, and he exposed the new curriculum during lessons. On the other hand, the experimental group made use of educational videos, which was created for the purpose of the experiment. The videos were well distributed to the learners and they were allowed maximum utilization of the videos. The students were also instructed to explain what a flipped classroom teaching method is. This was intentionally made to be able to find out whether the learners would know that they were already in the flipped classroom. The learners were allowed to watch the prepared videos during home preparation.

As they watched the videos, the learners were given the opportunity to comment on each of the videos as well as air their opinions about the demerits and setbacks of the social network. To ensure that there is efficient data collected as regards the use of flipped classrooms, the students were instructed to write a brief summary of the topic as well as perform a discussion on the problematic parts performed in class. The researcher placed more emphasis on independent work as well deepening of knowledge. Before the beginning of the experiment, the two groups, control and experimental, were made to go through a pre-test or a didactic test. The researcher created twenty-three educational videos, which covered the learning of English in Pre-Intermediate Secondary School.

To compare the flipped and non-flipped classroom, the researcher gathered data from a normal traditional classroom or the purposes of forming a baseline data, which he could use to compare the flipped classroom. To be able to obtain this data, the researcher started by implementing a traditional classroom for close to 3 days. The lessons made were designed with normal classroom events such as discussions, lectures and other education techniques. The learners were also given tasks to perform while at home. Upon the implementation of 3 days of traditional classroom, the researcher surveyed the learners. The survey sought to know the amount of time that learners spent on the tasks given every night as well as how the tasks given were helpful in their learning. Besides, the survey sought to assess how the learners rated difficulty, effectiveness and engagement in classroom. According to the design of this survey, the learners had five possible responses that they could give for each case. The responses were strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree or strongly disagree. Besides, the survey also included three open response questions, which sought to let the learners write any comments and put what they preferred, or what they would want changed about the class.

As result of the implementation of the non-flipped traditional classroom, the researcher implemented the flipped classroom for 3 days. In the flipped classroom, the researcher assigned homework to learners to watch 5 to 15 minutes video lecture, which was followed by a question quiz consisting of 3 to 5 questions. Since getting the right video to use can be quite herculean due to the vast array of videos available online, the researcher keenly sought for the videos from YouTube and Google.

Understanding the Kirkpatrick Model

According to Kurt (2017), Kirkpatrick model is one way of testing the efficiency of a learning and education programs system and it entails the u...