Education in Medicine Journal (ISSN 2180-1932) © www.eduimed.com | e20
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef, Dept of Emergency Medicine, Singapore general
Hospital, Outram Road, Singapore 169608. Email: Fatimah.abd.lateef@sgh.com.sg
An Overview of the Flipped Classroom
The flipped classroom has long existed in
various forms, but was popularized and solidified
as a model by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron
Sams (1, 2). They first published a book on it in
2012, titled "Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every
Student in Every Class Every Day"(1, 2). This
model aims to reform age-old teaching methods
that are inefficient and often fail to engage
students in the classroom (3). The flipped
classroom is a concept whereby schoolwork is
done at home and homework is done at school
(1).
Also known as the 'inverted classroom', the
flipped classroom has infiltrated many
classrooms in the West. Media like the The New
York Times (4) and The Washington Post (5)
have even reported on it. Books deliberating it
have surfaced and teachers themselves have
tried, tested and advocated it (2-10). Following
the widespread success of the flipped classroom
as reported in the West, this paper aims to
discover the response of Asian users. To our
knowledge, this is the first paper to report on the
Asian perspective of the flipped classroom
model.
© Medical Education Department, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The flipped classroom is a radical pedagogy whereby online
lectures take place outside class, and the conventional classroom is used for
active problem solving. It has successfully met the approval of students and
teachers alike in the Western world. Objective: This paper aims to evaluate
the response to flipped classroom teaching in Asian schools. Asian students
stereotypically learn differently from their Western counterparts hence their
receptivity to flipped classrooms may also vary. Method and Result:
Collective results from twelve case studies carried out in Asia reflect a
positive response from majority of the Asian students who experienced the
flipped classroom. Conclusion: The flipped classroom, although a relatively
new model of practice in Asia, appears to be gaining momentum and is
well-received. These findings not only fuel the necessity for more resources
to be channelled into furthering the potential of the flipped classroom in
Asia, they can also be of special value to schools with a strong international
culture worldwide.
The Flipped Classroom: Viewpoints in Asian Universities
Chua Shu Min Joanne
1
, Fatimah Lateef
2,3
1
3
rd
Year Medical Student, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Ireland.
2
Senior Consultant, Director
of Undergraduate Training and Education, Director of The Institute of Medical Simulation and Education,
Singapore General Hospital.
3
NUS Graduate Medical School and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National
University of Singapore.
REVIEW ARTICLE
Volume 6 Issue 4 2014
DOI:10.5959/eimj.v6i4.316
www.eduimed.com
ARTICLE INFO
Received : 24/09/2014
Accepted : 20/10/2014
Published : 01/12/2014
KEYWORD
Flipped classroom
Asia
Pedagogy
Learning culture