Campus Gotland receives a grant to develop an integration of Flipped Classroom and Active Student Participation (ASP) teaching methods

To support pedagogical development work at Uppsala University, the Rector announced project funding for the financial year 2022. As part of this funding the Wind Energy section at Campus Gotland has been given a grant of SEK 239,000 to develop a combination of the Flipped Classroom and Active Student Participation teaching methods.

A flipped-classroom is a form of mixed learning where students learn most things at home by watching recorded lectures, reading texts, or listening to a podcast. The students thus prepare for the lesson outside of the lecture time and that time is instead mainly devoted to discussing and applying the knowledge that the students have acquired on their own.

ASP is about encouraging students' own participation and commitment by, among other things, introducing inclusive teaching methods, inviting students to be co-creators of the teaching and trying to improve the quality of the teaching.

This mixed approach using both methods will be applied during windPRO workshops within the Wind Resource Assessment course of the Master Program in Wind Power Project Management.

José Pedro da Silva Soares, research assistant / lecturer is behind the proposal: “Integration of flipped-classroom and active student participation approaches for software tutoring”

1. What are the benefits of a flipped-classroom?

There are several benefits, especially when applying this technique to software tutorials:

1. Independent learning is activated, meaning that students become responsible for their own learning experience
2. Study can be done at the students’ own pace
3. Students can revisit the video lectures whenever necessary when e.g. applying the gathered knowledge in subsequent courses / thesis work
4. It releases the teachers from the traditional tutoring job. Teachers become facilitators of knowledge, dedicating time to clarify students’ doubts and exploring their requests. 

1. You will also use "active student participation approaches for software tutoring", please tell what it means.

Active student participation techniques will be used throughout the project.

In the development phase, a small group of students will act as co-creators, providing inputs, suggestions and participating actively on the project’s maturation.

In the implementation phase, students will be activated utilizing different techniques that will be explored in the classroom such as peer-teaching, peer-2-peer, jigsaw strategy and what we’ve named “students as producers”. The latest concept is based on the development of a particular project case shaped around students’ doubts / requests and aimed to be utilized as one of the base projects for the subsequent academic year.

1. When do you start and how long does the project last?

The project just started (September 2021) and will continue until December 2022.

The first phase of the project is a pilot where we aim to learn from our experiences and create a good foundation for the 2^nd phase.

In the second phase, we will cement the project and develop a standard for replication so others can learn and improve the basis of our work.

1. Will you evaluate the project?

Yes, the project will be assessed twice after each implementation phase. The pilot will be evaluated in the end of 2021 and the final project by the end of 2022. Students, project participants and observers (other teachers than the ones involved in the project) will perform the evaluation. The lessons learned will be compiled and feedback provided by potential observers will be collected and evaluated.

For more information please contact José Pedro da Silva Soares