Abstract
Flipped classrooms have become a major trend in higher education. A Google search of “flipped classroom” now comes up with almost 5 million hits, a twofold increase since one of the authors presented in this issue did the same search. Flipping generally refers to a model in which activities inside and outside of class are reversed, orflipped, a pedagogy made possible by advances in technology.Bergmann and Sams (2012), who have been strong promoters of the model and have been credited with coining the term, defined the flipped classroom as “that which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now done in class” (p. 13). Bergmann and Sams were concerned about students who could not translate content from lectures into useful information for completing assignments. They argued that where students need help is not in hearing lectures but in answering questions and having individualized support (Bergmann & Sams, 2012, pp. 4-5). This special issue ofBusiness and Professional Communication Quarterly, the first ever special issue ofBPCQsince the journal’s name was changed fromBusiness Communication Quarterly, offers a collection of articles on the theory and practice of flipping and contributes to the ongoing conversations and debates about the value of this approach.
At first, many have assumed that the flipped component might consist of students watching videos of lectures at home and then coming to class for discussion (EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, 2012). The focus on video lectures reminds me of the time not so long ago when students might be snail mailed CD-ROMs (remember those?) with lectures and materials for first-generation online courses. But these days, those who practice flipping successfully consider the primary goal to be increasing student interaction and engagement, as opposed to simply imparting knowledge via lectures and textbooks. Flipping makes possible teaching methods that were impossible prior to technological innovation. Thus, it is not just the flip that is significant, but the actual pedagogy, and flipped learning is not the same as a flipped classroom. Videos used in a flipped classroom are not just reproductions of live lectures on content delivered by university instructors but can instead serve as digital learning platforms.
TheFlipped Learning Network (2014)described flipped learning as moving direct instruction “from the group learning space to the individual learning space” where the “resulting group space is transformed” (p. 1).Bergmann, Overmyer, and Wilie (2013)argued that a flipped classroom blends direct instruction with constructivist learning, provides a permanent archive of content for review and remediation, offers a space where students who must be absent for various reasons (including illness) are not left behind, and gives everyone the opportunity for personalized education. Many of the methods advocated by proponents of flipping have been around for years, especially in writing and communication courses and experiential learning, but the concept of the flipped classroom provides a vehicle to discuss all these approaches to what is essentially learning by discovery, a topic explored in our lead article. The author specifically applies discovery learning principles to an analysis of the visual thinking and design strategies taught in a study abroad course. Visual rhetoric has become increasingly important in workplace communication, and teaching it via discovery learning, as has been done in design studios for years, can greatly enrich courses in business and professional communication that combine the best elements of inquiry- or problem-based experiential learning and flipping pedagogies
Our second article focuses on Twitter as a teaching and learning tool, which students use to identify a sample, collect customer tweets, and analyze the language of the tweets in order to construct knowledge about an audience’s values, needs, and attitudes. The activity described in this article flips the student’s role from a consumer of social media to a data analyst, thus fulfilling objectives of teaching both audience analysis and research methods. I believe our readers will especially enjoy the videos the authors created for YouTube, for which links are provided in the appendices.
The author of our third article proposes that flipping, which originated in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields as a means of moving away from didactic transmission of content, can provide a way to teach conceptual foundations in business and professional communication outside of class meetings. She analyzes the opportunities and challenges presented by creating videos that can stand on their own. Our fourth article continues this emphasis on video, by showing how the innovative content design and delivery of this medium in university writing courses can broaden the reach of the classroom to areas that connect students, class content, and the professional world. Creating asynchronous workshops in social environments is the subject of our fifth article, and the author includes examples of how this can be accomplished.
Our next article demonstrates how flipped learning sequences and collaborative writing exercises provide powerful pedagogies for business and professional communication courses. We close with a focus on experiential learning and thus return to the idea of discovery learning explored in the beginning of this special issue, this time with the use of embedded learning whereby students conduct an ethnographic analysis of an authentic business meeting.
This collection thus provides a rich overview of flipped classrooms and discovery learning in business and professional communication. But there is more to come, for our June issue will continue with four articles on this subject, providing additional examples of translating theory into practice; all of these already appear in theOnline Firstsection ofBPCQ’s website. I want to offer special thanks at this time to Marilyn Dyrud and Rebecca Worley, cochairs of the Association for Business Communication’s Teaching Committee, for issuing the call for papers that resulted in the impressive work we showcase here.
I am also very pleased to announce that next year we will have another special issue ofBPCQ, with the titleEnabling Workplaces, Classrooms, and Pedagogies: Bringing Disability Theory and Accessibility to Business and Professional Communication. Sushil Oswal will be the guest editor, and a call for papers is printed on pages 131-133 of this issue. I invite your submissions for what promises to be an important contribution to research that advances the teaching of business and professional communication.