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Politecnico di Milano

To Flip Or Not To Flip - Discover the flipped classroom methodology

To flip or not to flip? That is the question! Let’s walk together this path: how does flipped learning works? How to adopt this approach in teaching day life?

If you are a PoliMI student you have to log in using your Person Code. This is the only way to prove your participation in this course for official recognition.

Course description

What is flipped learning? According to the Flipped Learning Network, it is a “pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.”

In this MOOC you will have the chance to:

  • learn the basics about flipped classroom;
  • explore some shared experiences and identify key issues;
  • start thinking about how to try it out in your course, using also the set of tools we will provide you with, and - why not – any useful open resource you find online.

The MOOC is enriched by many testimonies coming from international experiences at University level, with a special focus on STEM subjects.

Total workload of the course: 13 hours

This MOOC is provided by Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with UNIT (Université Numérique Ingénierie et Technologie), Ecol des Ponts ParisTech, Université de Lorraine and Mines Nantes.

Université Numèrique Ingénierie et Technologie
Ecol des Ponts ParisTech
Université de Lorraine
Mines Nantes

Information about fees and access to materials

The course is delivered in online mode and is available free of charge.

Course materials will remain available to all enrolled users after the end of the current edition, so they can return to content later. The current course edition will be followed by a new one just after its end.

Learning schedule

The course is structured in 5 weeks:

  • Week 1 - Flipped classroom and teaching experiences
  • Week 2 - Reflections on challenging and successful experiences
  • Week 3 - …seriously, what is it? The “core”
  • Week 4 - Let’s try
  • The pedagogical approach adopted in this MOOC

You’ll have the chance to choose among three different levels of involvement, even if there is no explicit distinction in the contents, considering the effort you may put in it: reading and viewing, communication and production paths are available.

Week 0 is an introduction to the MOOC, its structure and the main subject we are dealing with.

From week 1 to week 4 you’ll find the core part of the MOOC, the flipped classroom: you’ll start from concrete experiences and, through a deep reflection on them and a guided analysis of the theoretical background, you’ll reach the “hands on” part, in which you’ll have the chance to start using this approach for your own course’s design.

Finally yet importantly, there is a final section, which focuses on the pedagogical approach applied in this MOOC as a whole. This section has been designed and developed by Université Numérique Ingénierie et Technologie. In this section you’ll have the chance, as a teacher, to reflect on the overall design phase of a course, as a meta-level.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By actively participating in this MOOC, you will achieve different intended learning outcomes.


Week 1 - Flipped classroom and teaching experiences

  1. View some relevant flipped classroom experiences from “around the world”
    ESCO: education science
  2. Define your own learning outcomes for this course
    ESCO: use learning strategies
  3. Get familiar with flipped classroom methodology

Week 2 - Reflections on challenging and successful experiences

  1. Identify the challenges that may be encountered while using a flipped strategy
    ESCO: perform risk analysis
  2. Identify some key factors for success
  3. Recognize the effects flipped classroom may have on students

Week 3 - …seriously, what is it? The “core”

  1. Look at flipped classrooms from a theoretical point of view
  2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of flipped classroom
    ESCO: think analytically
  3. Identify a few teaching strategies adapted to flipped classroom
    ESCO: advise on teaching methods
  4. Become aware of the effects on the students of this approach and how it influences assessment
    ESCO: consult students on learning content

Week 4 - Let’s try

  1. Define the objectives of your flipping strategy
    ESCO: teaching and training
  2. Identify the activities you could flip
    ESCO: instructional design models
  3. Identify a few teaching strategies adapted to flipped classroom
    ESCO: advise on teaching methods
  4. Design what to do before, during and after class time
    ESCO: apply teaching strategies ESCO: compile course material ESCO: conduct educational activities

The pedagogical approach adopted in this MOOC

  1. Show the importance of the teaching approach you adopt in your courses
    ESCO: education science ESCO: pedagogy
  2. Put forward arguments about the mix between your role as a teacher, the teaching and learning strategies adopted and the flipped classroom approach
    ESCO: teaching and training

Prerequisites

No prerequisite knowledge is required for this course, even if previous experience in didactics and teaching will be helpful. The course is mainly addressed to professors and teachers, at all levels, who are willing to think about some innovation in their pedagogical approach.

Activities

Over and above consulting the content, in the form of videos and other web-based resources (the reading path), you will have the opportunity to discuss course topics and to share ideas with your peers in the Forum of this MOOC (the communication path). The forum is freely accessible and participation is not guided. You can also perform design activities to build your own courses using templates and suggestions about new assessment strategies (the production path).

In addition to these different types of activities and levels of involvement, the course entails questions in the form of self-assessment quizzes or as hints for reflection, as well as discussion activities in the Forum and design activities in WEEK 4. You are not required to answer these questions or participate to activities to complete the course, but we strongly believe they offer you a concrete opportunity to improve your knowledge! Instead, the quiz you will find at the end of the core WEEKs (except WEEK 0 and the final section on the pedagogical approach) will be evaluated.

Assessment

The final grade for the course is based on results from your responses to the quizzes you will find at the end of each week (weekly quizzes). You will successfully complete the course if you reach 60% (or more) of the total score by the end of the edition. The course’s total score will be calculated by averaging the scores of the assessed quizzes for each individual week.

The course entails also questions, in the form of self-assessment quizzes or as hints for reflection, as well as discussion activities in the Forum and design activities in WEEK 4. You are not required to answer these questions or participate in activities to complete the course, but we strongly believe they offer you a concrete opportunity to improve your knowledge!

Certificate of Accomplishment

The Certificate of Accomplishment will be released to anyone who successfully completed the course by answering correctly to at least 60% of the questions. You will be able to download the Certificate of Accomplishment directly on the website.

Once you have successfully passed the course, you can request the Certificate of Accomplishment without waiting for the end of the edition.

The Certificate of Accomplishment does not confer any academic credit, grade or degree.

European Qualifications Framework Level

EQF Level 6

Thematic area (ISCED-F classification)

011 Education

0111 Education Science

Discussion forum

The forum of this MOOC is freely accessible and participation is not guided; you can use it to compare yourself with other participants, or to discuss course contents with them.

Contact details

If you have any enquiries about the course or if you need technical assistance please contact pok@polimi.it. For further information, see FAQ page.

Course Faculty

The videos of this MOOC were recorded in 2016. The affiliation of our experts might have changed over time. Some examples (i.e. software) are time sensitive, and we suggest checking for up-to-date options when participating in this MOOC.

This MOOC is the result of a proficient collaboration between many people, at international level. Politecnico di Milano - METID had the chance to enjoy working closely with UNIT partners and to benefit from the kind availability of many international teachers, who already experienced flipped classroom approach. The list is long, take your time : )


Paola Corti

Paola Corti

Paola Corti is a Project Manager at Politecnico di Milano – METID; she is an instructional designer involved in MOOCs design and production for POK platform. She coordinated the design of the course, involved international testimonials, together with other curators, in order to collect the experiences available in this MOOC, and she kept together the design and the production groups…and many are things needed : )

Ariane Dumont

Ariane Dumont

Ariane Dumont, professor at the Western Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, Educational Developer and responsible for promoting innovation in pedagogy. She has trained over 300 faculty members to implement the flipped classroom in their teaching. She will nicely guide you through some interesting models, which can support you in exploring and experimenting the flipped classroom.

Aude Pichon

Aude Pichon

Aude Pichon, Advisor in Pedagogy in the Center for Professional Development in Education at the Ecole des Mines in Nantes and Coordinator in charge of the pedagogical development within uTOP(UNIT) in France, she not only advises on teacher training projects, but also develops them and leads them either face-to-face or remotely. 

This MOOC could not exist without the precious contribution coming from many pedagogical experts and instructional designers, starting from Manuela Milani, from Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy), to Morgane Massart, from École des Ponts ParisTech (France), till Nathalie Issenmann and Anthony Battistutta from Université de Lorraine (France).
Our testimonials are not to be forgotten: our gratitude for their interesting and valuable contribution is really huge! Stephanie Velegol from Penn State University (USA), Sam Marsh and Nick Gurski from Sheffield University (UK), Jean-Cédric Chappelier from EPFL (CH), Gabriel Stoltz from Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (F), and Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn from Leiden University (NL), Domenico Brunetto from Politecnico di Milano (IT): you’ve been great with us, thanks again!

  1. Classes Start

    May 15, 2023
  2. Classes End

    May 12, 2024
  3. Length

    5 Weeks
  4. Estimated Effort

    2-3 hours/week
  5. Language

    English
  6. Course Number

    FC101
  7. MOOCs For Teachers
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