"Flipping" Ed. Law Instruction

My friend Karl Fisch was featured by Daniel Pink in a story in the Telegraph on Sunday for flipping his instruction such that students do lecture at home and homework at school, instead of the more traditional lecture at school and homework at home. I thought it was a great story and I highly encourage you to read it. 

But, I wanted to use it to point out that for the last 2 years, I have been using the same model in my education law instruction and I wanted to encourage everyone else to consider doing the same.  This model of getting the content done before they come to class and doing homework and activities in class seems to work really great in our field.

First, we actually have specific content knowledge students need to know, such as what their state immunity provision says. Second, though, much of that content is quite boring (even though weirdos like me find immunity statutes fascinating). Third, that content is quite specialized so we rely heavily on textbooks. Fourth, there are few ways to assess that specialized learning outside of class, so the assignments are dull. And, fifth, that leaves us little choice but to wind up with some type of exam as the main assessment. 

Education law is a perfect candidate to be flipped. Get the content online. Record lectures (I can help you learn how, if you like) and post them. Then build readings around them. You can still rely on the textbook (although I would discourage it), but link to the Constitution. Link to cases. Link to summaries. Link to blog posts. Link to news stories. Link, link, link. Once you get enough links, you'll realize the textbook is not as important anymore. Also, let the students have their initial discussions online. Get the basic questions out of the way. If you must, like I do, build in an online quiz to assure students do the reading and the videos. 

Okay, now, all that work you would have done in class is over with. Now is when things get really fun. In the class meetings (of which you now need fewer) do the homework - the activities, the discussions, the modeling and everything else that reinforces the learning that occurred online. It is much more fun that way and the quality of the course improves. While you have them, you can build points around all those activities, so suddenly you realize you don't need an exam. There are plenty of ways to assess learning formatively in real time as the course is happening and those things add up to enough points that an exam is not necessary. 

Granted, flipping the course like this is more work. Now, instead of just lecturing, assigning textbook chapters and writing and exam, you also have to plan activities, manage technology, write on discussion boards and provide more formative feedback, among other things. But, that is the kind of work that actually takes learning to another level, from consuming to engaging. 

Anyway, I've been doing it a couple years and I am never going back. And, if you are interested, there are plenty of resources to help you ... including me personally. Hope you give it a try. 

Comments

[Gina]

Very fun idea Justin.

[Rich]

I'm doing a bit of that tonight, Justin. Thanks for the articulation and the sources.