Within the past few years, classrooms all over the world have discovered that students had a wealth of “head knowledge” but no ability to apply it or to work within a team (the bedrock of most organizations around the world).  Also, a large portion of students never even complete the education process.  In the United States alone, only 69% of students who start high school finish four years later.  7200 students drop out of high school each day, totaling 1.3 million a year.

To respond to these shortcomings, many educators worked together to change the classroom model.  Instead of the class being a lecture, it became conversation, Q&A and practical application.  The students receive the information outside of the classroom then bring it to the gathering, along with any questions or comments they may have.  They’re placed in smaller groups to practice tackling ideas with other people.  The teacher moves from being the “keeper of knowledge” to the “applier of knowledge”, from lecturer to facilitator.  An interactive atmosphere builds both the students and the teacher, because through questions and comments everyone is challenged on the subject.  They experience different perspectives and discover new innovations in application.  Also, they learn how to communicate and operate as a team and how to lead.

Clintondale High School near Detroit adopted the flip model with great success.  Before the flip 50% of freshmen failed English and 44% failed math.  They also had 736 discipline cases in one semester.  After the flip, 19% failed English and 13% failed math, and they had 249 discipline cases.

Created by Knewton