I am preparing to teach a "blended" chemistry course this fall and I admit that I am a little nervous. Students will be expected to access some of the course material outside of class. It will be very important that students preview materials and complete assignments. In recent years, it has become more and more difficult for me to feel confident that many of my students are spending enough valuable time preparing for class. There are many reasons for this, but the bottom line is that I am looking for advice from chemistry teachers that have experience using the flipped format. How can I assure that students will complete the work? There is one other teacher in my high school (of 600+ students) that is using a flipped format, so many of my students will have some experience with it. I know that teacher has struggled to get students and their parents to buy-in to the concept, but he has gotten some positive feedback after two years.
I did just read an article in the Journal of Chemical Education (part of the AP Special Issue) that has been helpful as I prepare for the course: D. Schultz, S. Duffield, S. Rasmussen, J. Wageman, Effects of the Flipped Classroom Model on Student Performance for Advanced Placement High School Chemistry Students.
Other chemistry teachers are asking for the same type of advice (see a recent inquiry), so I hope we will get a good response from our community!
Thanks!
Deanna