Flipped Classroom
also known as flipped learning, inverted classroom, flip your classroom
Instruction is moved out of the classroom into asynchronous pre-work — typically video — and the time formerly spent on instruction is used for active application, problem-solving, and teacher-guided interaction. 'That which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class' (Bergmann & Sams, 2012, p. 13). The logic is that passive reception of new material is the part of learning that least requires a trained instructor present; active struggle with application is precisely where expert guidance is most valuable. Popularised by Colorado chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams from 2007, who began recording video lessons so absent students could catch up — and found the results were better for everyone.
How the learner advances
Intent. Reallocate classroom time from passive information delivery to active, instructor-supported application, so that expert guidance is available at the moment of greatest cognitive need.
When to apply. Apply when learners can reliably access pre-work outside class and when the instructor's most distinctive contribution is not delivering information but responding to learner difficulty in real time. Use when class time is scarce and is currently dominated by lecture — any reallocation toward active work with expert feedback will improve learning. Do not use when learners lack access to video or internet outside class, when pre-work compliance is very low, or when the subject matter has no clear application component that benefits from peer and instructor interaction. Also avoid when the instructor's live explanation is genuinely irreplaceable and hard to pre-record effectively.
Threshold — earns the next step. The learner arrives at the active session with sufficient foundational understanding to engage productively with the application tasks without needing the instructor to re-deliver the pre-work material.
Masterpiece — the artifact that proves it. A session in which the instructor does not deliver a single minute of whole-class lecture, spends the entire period responding to individual and small-group difficulty, and learners complete application tasks at a depth they could not have reached working alone.
Facets
- Container — async
- Mode — self-directedcollaborativeproject-based
- Reach — cohort
- Persona — instructorlearner
- Craft (AI Fluency) — discernmentdelegation
- Learner — human
- Trainer — human
Inputs
- Asynchronous instructional content — Video lectures, annotated readings, or other self-paced material that delivers the foundational concepts learners need before attending the active session. Must be accessible outside class and navigable at the learner's own pace.
- Accountability mechanism for pre-work — A short quiz, question prompt, or entry ticket that confirms learners engaged with the pre-work before the active session — without which a large proportion will arrive unprepared and active time collapses.
- Active in-class tasks — Problem sets, projects, case studies, or peer-teaching activities that require and develop understanding of the pre-work material and cannot be completed without it — the tasks that make the reclaimed class time worthwhile.
Outputs
- More capable learner — A learner who has encountered concepts before class, applied them with instructor and peer support during class, and received targeted feedback at the moment of greatest confusion — rather than discovering confusion alone at home during homework.
- Instructor time spent on high-value interaction — The masterpiece at the instructor level: class time in which the instructor spends no time on information delivery and all available time on individual and small-group diagnosis, feedback, and targeted reteaching.
Steps (5)
Audit current class time
Map what actually happens during class: how many minutes go to lecture, how many to active work, how many to Q&A. Identify which parts of the lecture can be pre-recorded without loss and which genuinely benefit from live presence.
Create or curate pre-work content
Record short, focused videos (10–15 minutes is the effective ceiling for a single concept) or curate existing materials. Annotate key moments. Structure so the learner can pause, rewind, and revisit at their own pace.
Design a pre-work accountability check
Create a brief quiz or question prompt that learners complete before arriving, confirming engagement with the content. Make it low-stakes but required — it is a readiness gate, not a performance measure.
Design active in-class tasks
Replace lecture time with tasks that require application of the pre-work: problems, case analyses, peer instruction, design challenges. Ensure tasks are genuinely difficult enough to need instructor support so learners experience the value of the reclaimed time.
Use class time for guided active work
Circulate continuously during active sessions. Spend time with struggling learners; extend successful ones. The instructor's role shifts from presenter to expert coach — available at the moment of greatest difficulty.
Principles
- Class time is the scarcest resource and the only time expert feedback is reliably available: spend it on the tasks that most need that feedback, not on content delivery the learner can receive alone.
- Pre-work only works if it is done: accountability mechanisms are not optional add-ons but structural components of the flip. Without them, the active class session degenerates into re-teaching the pre-work to the unprepared majority.
Known uses (2)
Bergmann and Sams — Woodland Park High School chemistry — Woodland Park High School, Colorado
secondary education Bergmann and Sams began recording video lessons in 2007 to support absent students; they found in-class time reclaimed for active work improved outcomes for all students and popularised the approach through their 2012 book.
Khan Academy and classroom partnerships — Khan Academy
online and blended learning Khan Academy's video library was explicitly adopted by teachers as the pre-work component of flipped classrooms, with class time reserved for working through problems — a large-scale instantiation of the Bergmann-Sams model.
Known failure modes (3)
- [pre-work-non-completion]
Anti-pattern: learners do not engage with pre-work before the session, so the active class time is spent re-delivering the foundational content and the flip produces no gain over a traditional lecture. Occurs when pre-work accountability mechanisms are absent or non-enforced.
- [flipped-but-passive-in-class]
Anti-pattern: the instructor reclaims class time from lecture but fills it with more passive activity — watching additional videos in class, whole-class Q&A without individual work — rather than genuinely active application. The flip moves the location of passive learning without changing its nature.
- [access-gap]
Anti-pattern: the model is applied in a context where a subset of learners lacks reliable access to video or internet outside class, so the flip systematically disadvantages those learners who most need support. Equity must be assessed before adopting the model.
Related trainings (5)
- Worked Examples★★
Accelerate schema acquisition in novice learners by replacing the cognitive overhead of unguided problem-solving with the study of fully elaborated solutions.
- Formative Assessment Checkpoints★★
Keep learning on track by regularly surfacing the gap between current understanding and the target, then using that gap information to adjust instruction or learner effort before it becomes a terminal failure.
- Deliberate Practice★★
Build expert-level skill in a specific domain by repeatedly working at the edge of current ability with immediate, specific feedback.
- 70-20-10 Model★★
Design professional development that allocates most learning opportunity to challenging real work, uses social feedback and coaching to extract learning from that work, and positions formal content as a targeted supplement rather than the main event.
- Spiral Curriculum★★
Build deep, connected understanding by introducing core ideas early in accessible form, then returning to them at progressively higher levels of complexity and abstraction throughout the learning sequence.
Sources (2)
Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day
“that which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class”
“I now have time to work individually with students. I talk to every student in every classroom every day”
Provenance
- Ecosystem: education, corporate training, online and blended learning
- Added to catalog:
- Last updated:
- Verification status: verified