HILT Grants: Team-based learning in the humanities

TL;DR

Implementing a flipped classroom approach in humanities education encourages active student engagement and self-development, although it presents challenges due to the absence of clear-cut answers.

Transcript

My project is about trying to do a flipped classroom in a humanities context. I was really excited by it, because it gave me an opportunity to make my pedagogy align with my stated goals of what learning about and teaching philosophy is. Because it is not a body of subtle doctrine that the students are supposed to simply internalize and perhaps adm... Read More

Key Insights

• 🤳 Flipped classroom helps align pedagogy with the goals of active learning and self-development in humanities education.
• 🧑‍🎓 The absence of clear-cut answers in humanities subjects poses challenges in designing appropriate activities for student engagement.
• 🤪 Going through the course multiple times under real classroom conditions provides valuable insights for improvement.
• 🧑‍🎓 The flipped classroom approach incentivizes students to actively participate in readings and tasks.
• 🧑‍🎓 Presenting a clear narrative in each class session is essential for students to understand the purpose of each task and its contribution to the subject matter.
• 👻 Striking a balance between covering a lot of material and allowing time for meta-cognitive work is crucial in the flipped classroom.
• 🐬 Focusing on the process of implementing a flipped classroom rather than solely on the outcome facilitates consistent progress and valuable results.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the benefit of implementing a flipped classroom in humanities education?

Implementing a flipped classroom approach in humanities education allows students to actively engage with the subject matter, shape their own thinking, and develop as thinkers, instead of being passive recipients of settled knowledge.

Q: What are the challenges of implementing a flipped classroom in humanities education?

The main challenge lies in designing activities that promote progress without oversimplifying or misrepresenting the complex nature of humanities subjects, as they lack clear-cut answers.

Q: How did the HILT grant assist in implementing the flipped classroom methodology?

The HILT grant provided funding for training workshops and hiring graduate students to collaborate on developing a course with the flipped classroom methodology.

Q: How has the flipped classroom approach benefited student engagement and understanding?

Students have reported being more engaged with the course materials, and their understanding of the subject matter has deepened compared to past iterations of the course, where they were passive listeners during lectures.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The speaker was excited about implementing a flipped classroom approach in humanities education to align pedagogy with the goals of learning and teaching philosophy.

• Humanities subjects do not provide clear answers, making it challenging to design activities that prompt progress without misrepresenting the subject matter.

• The HILT grant provided an opportunity to explore and implement the flipped classroom methodology, which involved attending training workshops, designing a course, and teaching it multiple times.