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My child goes to a very good school and they often teach math "upside down". In this method, the homework is to watch the teacher give a recorded lecture. The

My child goes to a very good school and they often teach math "upside down". In this method, the homework is to watch the teacher give a recorded lecture. Then, in class they work on the homework (math problems) while the teacher goes around watching them work and helping them with the parts they don't understand. He loves that method and seems to lean a lot from it.

emiliobumachar 8y ago
That's great! FYI, it's called a Flipped Classroom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipped_classroom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipped_classroom
- romwell 8y ago
  I tried it when I was teaching Calculus... Turns out, recording video lectures so that they are lively and watchable is hard. The students loved the couple of videos I posted, but then I burned out making them - since doing that was in addition to actually being in class, grading, and working on my thesis. So I went back to the more traditional (and ineffective setting) - one thing I regret about that semester. However, looking back, I'd need an entire semester just to develop the materials. Of course, that was not an option.
  - milliondollar 8y ago
    Why did you feel it necessary to invent the lectures yourself? Surely there are world class lectures out there that you could leverage and then use your time more effectively in the person to person setting? Seems like we are missing the whole potential of the digital (infinitely scalable one to many lectures) by constantly reinventing the wheel.
    - romwell 8y ago
      It's like asking why people still produce music when there are world class records out there. Or why people still write books. Teaching is a performance art as well. That aside, as a graduate student I didn't have that much freedom (or didn't understand how much freedom I actually had) in making changes - and also, it was my first time as an instructor of record, so I was trying different approaches. If I teach again (currently I'm in the industry), I'll know how to direct my efforts better.
naasking 8y ago
I thought this was a brilliant idea when I first heard of this approach. It's obviously the correct way to instruct, because the instructor is available to assist when you're actually doing the work where the most frustration and education happens. Students also need to write down questions about the lecture they didn't understand, which mandates some effort towards integrating understanding before practice the following day.
seanmcdirmid 8y ago
Flipped classrooms are increasingly common in universities as well, but the 4 hours of outside work for every hour of class still applies.
- LyndsySimon 8y ago
  Why does it still apply? If the work is assigned in the beginning, what's stopping them from skimming it to make sure they understand it, and if they do, simply not bothering to watch the lectures?
- jimmaswell 8y ago
  I never believed that "4 hours of outside work for every hour of class" thing one bit. I hardly ever did work outside of class and I graduated with a 3.7.

emiliobumachar 8y ago

That's great! FYI, it's called a Flipped Classroom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipped_classroom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipped_classroom

romwell 8y ago
I tried it when I was teaching Calculus... Turns out, recording video lectures so that they are lively and watchable is hard. The students loved the couple of videos I posted, but then I burned out making them - since doing that was in addition to actually being in class, grading, and working on my thesis. So I went back to the more traditional (and ineffective setting) - one thing I regret about that semester. However, looking back, I'd need an entire semester just to develop the materials. Of course, that was not an option.
- milliondollar 8y ago
  Why did you feel it necessary to invent the lectures yourself? Surely there are world class lectures out there that you could leverage and then use your time more effectively in the person to person setting? Seems like we are missing the whole potential of the digital (infinitely scalable one to many lectures) by constantly reinventing the wheel.
  - romwell 8y ago
    It's like asking why people still produce music when there are world class records out there. Or why people still write books. Teaching is a performance art as well. That aside, as a graduate student I didn't have that much freedom (or didn't understand how much freedom I actually had) in making changes - and also, it was my first time as an instructor of record, so I was trying different approaches. If I teach again (currently I'm in the industry), I'll know how to direct my efforts better.

naasking 8y ago

I thought this was a brilliant idea when I first heard of this approach. It's obviously the correct way to instruct, because the instructor is available to assist when you're actually doing the work where the most frustration and education happens. Students also need to write down questions about the lecture they didn't understand, which mandates some effort towards integrating understanding before practice the following day.

seanmcdirmid 8y ago

Flipped classrooms are increasingly common in universities as well, but the 4 hours of outside work for every hour of class still applies.

LyndsySimon 8y ago
Why does it still apply? If the work is assigned in the beginning, what's stopping them from skimming it to make sure they understand it, and if they do, simply not bothering to watch the lectures?
jimmaswell 8y ago
I never believed that "4 hours of outside work for every hour of class" thing one bit. I hardly ever did work outside of class and I graduated with a 3.7.