20 / ’southern
FEATURES
omething weird is happening in
Associate Professor Dr. Heather
Meggers-Wright’s psychology class
at BSC. You could say it’s been turned
upside-down.
The same thing is going on in
biology and physics and education; in
fact, it’s spreading to classes all over
campus as Birmingham-Southern
faculty find new ways to employ the
latest high-tech pedagogical technique,
called “flipping the classroom.”
Sounds crazy, but flipping really just
means that students first experience
new material on their own—often
through online video presentations—
then spend class time in a guided
exploration of the material via group
discussion or problem-solving. That’s
a change from how many (but not all)
professors have traditionally taught:
introducing the students to new
concepts in class, then sending them
off to practice with the ideas on their
own through homework.
“It’s about putting the content
outside the classroom so students
come prepared to
do
in the class,”
said Assistant Professor of Biology Dr.
Melanie Styers ‘99. “It’s almost the
opposite of what we do in the sciences
traditionally, where we talk at them for
an hour, then send them home to work
with the materials.”
This summer, Styers organized
a discussion session for faculty
on classroom flipping. About 20
professors from across disciplines—
including math, psychology, education,
and theatre—attended to share ideas
and talk about what has worked for
them. Much of the discussion centered
e 21st century classroom
BSC
transforms teaching
and learning with innovative
uses of technology
BY
HANNAH WOLFSON
BSC Assistant Professor of Education Dr. Genell Lewis-Ferrell shares a digital presentation to her Social Studies Methods class on the new InFocus Mondopad
(giant tablet computer), taking pre-service teachers on a virtual field trip to the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
S
