Flip My Class! A faculty development demonstration of a flipped-classroom

Abstract

This article describes a unique model for a faculty development program focused on sensitizing clinical pharmacy practice (CPP) faculty to the “flipped-classroom” approach to teaching. The developers of this program assigned pre-program homework to the faculty, which required them to watch a YouTube origami video on “How to make a paper crane?” and a Prezi presentation on flipped-classroom concept. Faculty were instructed to watch the crane video, construct their own crane, and send in a picture of it to the faculty facilitators by the deadline. The in-class program activities included a quiz on the homework; evaluation and feedback of the cranes submitted; a discussion on how to utilize class time for higher order complex assignments via a flipped-classroom approach; and individual, small-, and large-group reflection. Twenty of 34 (59%) CPP faculty completed the paper crane homework. Twenty-three faculty (68%) attended the “in-class” workshop. Overall, 84% of the faculty stated that the faculty development workshop and homework very strongly or strongly increased their understanding of a flipped-classroom and 88% of the faculty stated that they would consider flipping one of their classes next year. This well-received faculty development model successfully sensitized faculty to the flipped-classroom concept by having them take on the role of the student. This faculty development program is a model for other schools/colleges to expose faculty to alternative teaching techniques which may help them “think outside the box” when teaching student pharmacists.