“Flipped” Pedagogy: Flipping the Classroom

The traditional methods of teaching in healthcare follow an approach where a student’s first exposure to a topic occurs in the classroom during a lecture. Students are then provided with home assignments to consolidate their learning. In a “Flipped Classroom” approach, the first exposure to a topic takes place outside the classroom. The students are provided with learning aids in the form of lecture notes, videos and home activities. A student’s time in class is then devoted to higher forms of cognitive work such as application and analysis of concepts. The support of an instructor and peers ensure that the classroom time results in better understanding of the concepts.

Nuts and Bolts of “Flipped Classroom”

A flipped classroom approach focuses on equal participation from the instructor and the learners. To ensure that the students prepare for “productive” class time, they are expected to study the assignments prior to the class. These assignments are then discussed and regularly evaluated in the class. Prior study ensures that the students receive valuable feedback from their peers and instructor which deepens their understanding of a topic. Mini lectures are aimed at resolving specific student queries. This way, instructors can utilise the limited classroom time in more productive activities that allows the participants to understand a topic clearly.

Every class discussion is generally followed by a round of conceptual questions which have to be mandatorily answered by all the students with the help of either handheld devices or paper questionnaires. This is in contrast to the traditional method of teaching where only a few student volunteers answer the conceptual questions.

In case satisfactory number of participants do not answer the conceptual questions correctly, the topic can be discussed again to dispel doubts. Such focussed approach of learning also ensures class participation and transfer of knowledge amongst peers.

“Flipped Classroom” in Healthcare Training

Every class in a flipped classroom pedagogy is preceded by thorough study on the part of the student, and an evaluative and implementation based teaching session on the part of the instructor. This is particularly useful in healthcare, as it enables the instructor to focus on discussing real-world problems and real-life scenarios, rather than adopting a rote theory approach. Specialised training programmes, such as Berkeley HealthEDU’s ‘Train the Trainer’ and High-fidelity Simulation Training Programme, adopt this method of teaching to equip medical professionals with the skills necessary to deal efficiently with crises, improving the overall quality of healthcare delivery.