Flipped Classroom and Motivational Components (3)

A Critique of Flipped Classroom Video

5 selected videos include

1. Geometry: 4-4 Proving Triangles Congruent
2. History: The Black Plague
3. Descriptive Writing (Source: Troy Cockrum > English > Page 1)
4. Weather_Climate_and El Nino ( Source: Earth Science (103) > Page 1)
5. Nucleus Structure (Source: Brian Bennett > Cells (6) > Page 1)

The critique of the selections will be outlined through each category of Keller’s ARCS Model. The videos will be referred to in this following critique according to the subject areas which are 1) Geometry 2) History 3) English 4) Earth Science and 5) Biology.

1. Attention (A)

None of the instructions selected has clear evidence of attention capture at the very start of their lessons. History video begins with 3 pictures of organisms that affected the plague which can attract attention to a certain level but they are not very much striking. The Earth Science video begins with the question ‘How does El Nino affect climate and weather?’ It somewhat activates curiosity but is not that intriguing.
Some teachers use pen tool while they are lecturing. This helps add more movement in the instruction rather than just present plain information. Pen tool is used in the videos Geometry, Earth Science and Biology whereas English shows only a plain presentation.

Another attention-getting strategy that is different in each video is teachers’ tone of voice. Earth science teacher has the most varying tone of voice showing that the instruction very much welcomes the audiences. In the Geometry lesson, the teachers’ explanation is in a monotone style.
One element of humor is found in Biology video which the teacher says ‘cells commit suicide’ In other videos, the instructor’s style shows no sense of humor.
A bite of variability in format of teaching is only seen in Earth Science video. Other videos are embedded in the teacher’s explanation. This can help maintain students’ attention by not just listening to the instructor only.

2. Relevance (R)

None of the instructions clearly states why students have to study their lessons and how the contents relate to students’ life or goals. The English teacher says that the students can use descriptive writing in other pieces of writing but does not elaborate the point. The mathematics teacher points out that the lesson is prerequisite to other upcoming lessons; however, this is stated at the end of the lesson. It does not set forth goals of learning at the beginning. The biology teacher touches a bit of relevance of learners’ existing skills while the others do not. He mentioned about functions of cells previously learnt and today’s topic is control which is one function of cells.

3. Confidence (C)

Every instruction informs neither the requirements for success nor the evaluative criteria of the lesson. Some of them only outline the contents to be taught. All teachers do not state the skills or knowledge students will gain from their lessons.
Only the Geometry instruction provides exercise at the end of the instruction but very few. Students are not given the opportunities for success by showing their skills according to videos. However, in perspective of flipped classroom where application or task performance is mostly in the class, it can be assumed that students will have opportunities to apply their skills learnt in class. Confidence then is probably activated in class time not during self-paced period.

4. Satisfaction (S)

The meaningful tasks for students to exercise are not presented in any of the video instructions. Satisfaction component is not activated in any of the lessons selected. As stated above in the Confidence component, in flipped classroom teachers are likely to assign tasks for application in class time. Success from real-world problem solving and reinforcement from teachers which support satisfaction tend to be presented there in class time.