Top 10 Must-Read Research Papers in August

— Jon Bergmann —

Two main themes emerged from the 65 articles and research papers I reviewed this month. The first being increasing numbers of reviews of Flipped Learning research (#7 & 8). The meta-reviews are showing what we have seen over and over again in this top 10 list — simply that Flipped Learning works. I even wonder when they cite studies that show no growth if those practitioners have been following the Flipped Learning best practices.

Another theme I saw that was quite new this month was a prevalence of asking how students need to be prepared for Flipped Learning (#3, 4 & 9). Assuming students will jump in and be successful is unrealistic. I was particularly impressed with number 9 which created a Flipped Learning Readiness Tool for students.

The other notable study that caught my eye was number 5 where the researchers had students create flipped videos for each other.  

	Raul Santiago, María Teresa Sánchez-Compaña and Cristina Sánchez-Cruzado created a diagnostic tool which evaluates flipped learning teachers based upon the Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning. The tool was validated by a team of experts and should prove to be an excellent tool to help the global community improve their flipped learning classes. I can’t emphasize just how important this tool can be. There is a lot of people flipping their classes, and many of them are not flipping according to the global best practices. I highly encourage all of you to use this tool to evaluate both yourself and your institution. The tool is in three languages and the links are below Italian. https://it.surveymonkey.com/r/hfay2020it English https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/Beta19_19 Spanish https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/eupf2019 Chinese: Coming Soon Note: the tool is undergoing some revisions based on some new research. The English tool is the most up-to-date.
	Sunitha Prabhu’s research title grabbed me: “Cultivating Student Leadership in the Flipped Classroom.” Sunitha has a fascinating class where she gives much of the control of learning back to the students. It is a Flipped-Mastery class but with the leadership twist. I loved how this class allowed students to fail and learn from their failures. Very thought-provoking.
	Sajid Nazir and others combined peer instruction and collaborative learning with flipped learning. Their classes featured students at whiteboards taking ownership of problems and being motivated to discuss ideas freely. Student performance and satisfaction increased. This study emphasizes the importance of making the group space collaborative and engaging
	Morris Siu-Yung Jong and others from The Chinese University of Hong Kong demonstrated that gamifying the online space in a flipped learning classroom increased the likelihood that students will complete and engage in the pre-work.
	Hanne Maria-Bingen and others from Oslo University (Norway) studied how using a student response system in the group space enhanced their flipped Anatomy and Physiology course. They noted how important it is to craft appropriate questions into their student response system. One finding of note is that utilizing this approach helped to encourage students who otherwise did not do the pre-work to do the pre-work because the questions were based upon the pre-class work. This study shows the importance of connecting the pre-class work to group space activities.
	Uraiwan Srichailard and others from King Mongkut’s University of Technology (Thailand) showed how Flipped Learning combined with Project-Based Learning fits with the Kolb Learning Cycles. This paper again illustrates how Flipped Learning is a meta-strategy that allows for deeper learning to occur in classes.
	Matthew Casselman and other Chemistry professors from the University of California Riverside found something novel. They found that the majority of student gains in their flipped study came during the asynchronous flipped pre-work. Their conclusion is that there is a need to take greater time and thought with how flipped educators create the pre-work. We often say in the flipped world, focus on the group space. But this study flies in the face of that. Interesting to see if this plays out.
	Stephanie Jacobs and Audrey Powers, librarians at the University of South Florida (USA) designed digital learning modules to teach students research skills. They found that students who used flipped digital learning modules performed better on final papers. This led them to encourage professors to require these modules in their classes. This study emphasizes how important it is to collect data in our flipped classes and share that data with others.
	Katie O’Connor and Liz Larkin, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, found that students’ experience with their learning management system was poor. As flipped classrooms began to explode at the campus they sought to re-tool the LMS to meet the needs of their students. They simplified the user interface, conducted faculty development, and increased the amount of usable content which resulted in greater student satisfaction and increased student usage. This study shows how vitally important it is that institutions think systemically about the technology that they use making sure that the user experience (both the instructors and the students) is robust. I also notice how one of the catalysts for change was the fact that instructors were using Flipped Learning and the need for a robust and simple LMS was needed.
	Situjuh Nazara (Universitas Kristen Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia) did a meta-analysis of Flipped studies in EFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and found that Flipped Learning has “big potentials to address problems raised within EFL classes…” I am seeing more and more meta-analysis’ of studies that back the big claim that Flipped Learning simply works. Of course, now, we need to figure out ways to make it work better.