Ben R. Atkinson

Starting off in Week 8 of this EDU720 module, there was a focus on how our thoughts about designing key considerations related to designing learning environments in HE might differ between the traditional and online. This was a great way to segue into the second half of the module and there were some interesting ideas shared on the forum. For my part, I referred back to what we had studied in earlier weeks and the prior EDU710 module to come up with a list that encapsulated ‘the approach you wish to take’, ‘how you will assess’ and the ‘kind of students’ that are being taught. For this, I took a lot from MacDonald and her advice on blending learning and online tutoring where it is important to ‘understand what it is they [the students] are expected to learn, how they are expected to get there and in what timescale’ (Macdonald, 2006). This point of understanding the students is, I feel, particularly important as it informs all other aspects of curriculum design. I was pleased to get feedback from Federica who agree that ‘it can be quite important, especially with large cohort courses, to really be confident of the full range of ‘learning styles and needs’ that might be spread across the cohort’ (Orandini, 2019). We also agreed on the creative approach of module design which can be one of the most fun aspects of the task.

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During this Week 7 Reading Week of the EDU720 module, I was able to put my free time to good use in working towards the first assessment task to deliver my flipped learning activity with students and write up the required evaluation for submission. I was pleased that my delivery of the flipped learning activity fell during the reading week, as it meant I could devote much more time to the activity and the associated evaluation.

When devising and running my flipped learning activity, I took a lot from the approach of Aaron Sams and the idea of project-based learning, which I’ve called Flipped Learning 2.0. Aaron suggests the assessment ‘is not the dessert, it is the main course’ (Aaron Sams – Flipped Classroom: The Next Step, 2015) which I think is a great quote and one that both conveniently summarises many of the issues with assessment and feedback in teaching and learning (namely that they are not embedded into the module at an early stage) and provides solutions. It’s something that MacDonald touches on also when she suggests the most important point for students to understand when engaging in flipped learning, is ‘what it is they are expected to learn, how they are expected to get there and in what timescale’ (Macdonald, 2006).

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Week 6 of this EDU720 module, opened up with a discussion about our thoughts on how best to evaluate our flipped classroom activities. For me, there were three key points that should be considered in any evaluation – if the approach solved the original problem it was introduced for, if the students found the approach useful and, in my specific case, how well the project-based element fitted into the overall activity.

There has been a lot of discussion on the forums more generally throughout the last few weeks, about whether flipped learning activities actually improve the work that students and the amount that they are learning. As we’ve experienced, these kinds of activities are usually introduced to solve a problem or re-image a specific part of a course, so it’s very important to consider whether the activity actually resolved the problem for which it was introduced. Jill’s response on this week’s forum sums this up nicely, as although she enjoyed running the activity and found it useful, she suggests that ‘would probably not introduce a flipped classroom approach, as the most fundamental reason to do so is to free up seminar time, which is not an objective of my type of course’ (Dunn, 2019). Another idea I raised in my suggested evaluation points, was that of how to establish if the flipped learning activity directly impacted upon the assessment (given I wanted to introduce a project-based approach) – evaluating this would be a much longer process and beyond the bounds of evaluating the flipped activity alone. This was something Paul picked up on suggesting that ‘this is part of evaluating the alignment of this approach into the overall module’ (Roger, 2019) and that a positive response to the flipped learning activity should, in theory, ‘feed thru to an improvement in the summative assessment’ (Roger, 2019).

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In week one we will be engaging in a flipped learning activity. This final podcast introduces the third artist we will look at, 2010s businesswoman and country music icon, Taylor Swift. The podcast gives a brief overview of her life and career with reference to the themes we will be exploring throughout this module.

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In week one we will be engaging in a flipped learning activity. This third podcast introduces the second artist we will look at, 1980s singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash. The podcast gives a brief overview of her life and career with reference to the themes we will be exploring throughout this module.

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