Juliette Mammei Colloquium

Fri. Nov. 1 01:30 PM - Fri. Nov. 1 02:20 PM
Location: 2M73

I'm Flipping out - Active Engagement Works!

Over the past couple of years the University of Manitoba Faculty of Science has made an effort to promote improved pedagogical practices, including sponsoring a Pedagogy Seminar Series and the Mobile Summer Institute (MoSI).  The first pedagogy talk by Natasha Holmes and attendance at MoSI re-invigorated my interest in Physics Education Research (PER), which I had participated in as an undergraduate.  I decided to take the plunge and completely flip a first year physics course, PHYS 1020 - General Physics 1.  This is an algebra-based course, typically taken by non-majors, which covers mechanics, some fluids, and thermodynamics.  In this talk I will describe how I incorporated active engagement techniques in the classroom, despite challenges including how to handle a medium-size class of ~75 students, a theater-style lecture hall, and short MWF classes.  I will also present results of an independent assessment tool, developed by Physics Education Researchers to measure learning gains, which shows a clear improvement in learning gains for the flipped classroom.