Merging flipped classroom approaches with the 5E inquiry model: a design heuristic

Abstract

Most often, flipped classroom approaches in science and mathematics classrooms follow a traditional approach to teaching, where students receive direct instruction as homework and have to apply and deepen their knowledge in a follow-up lesson. Little is known about the arrangements of in-class and out-of-class phases fostering learning through inquiry in flipped classroom scenarios. To support teachers’ lesson planning practices, we developed a design heuristic for flipped classroom scenarios based on the 5E inquiry model. We implemented this design heuristic in an online professional development course for secondary mathematics teachers and collected 18 lesson plans. To explore how participating teachers adopted the design heuristic in their lesson plans, we conducted a document analysis on our data. We identified the following three major categories: (a) pre out-of-class phases to engage students, (b) in-class phases for student-centred learning activities and (c) post out-of-class phases for consolidation. Furthermore, we analysed lesson plans with the 5E model scoring instrument. Findings indicate that teachers’ lesson plans were mainly in line with the 5E model, but most participants struggled with selecting appropriate assessment techniques. Based on the analysis, this paper discusses revision decisions regarding the proposed design heuristic.