"A problem shared is a problem halved": Supporting early career science teachers to implement flipped learning

Steve Griffiths, Chris Campbell and Christine V. McDonald
Griffith University, Australia

There is widespread support in the educational reform literature for learner-centred teaching practices, such as flipped learning, that emphasise academic rigour in a caring, supportive environment. These practices are typically emphasised during teacher training. However, when faced with the myriad challenges of beginning to teach, the early career teacher will often avoid ambitious, learner-centred pedagogies and revert to less challenging, teacher-centred practices. This study employed a longitudinal, case study research design to investigate how three early career science teachers implemented flipped learning, when supported with flipped learning curricular resources. Results indicate that the teachers were successful in implementing flipped learning and learner-centred practices in their first year of teaching. The flipped learning curricular resources supported the professional learning and learner-centred teaching practices of all of the early career teachers. This research has implications for sharing of curricular resources to support teacher professional learning and learner-centred teaching practices. From this study recommendations have been made for implementing flipped learning during emergency remote teaching.
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Authors: Steven Griffiths (corresponding author) is a doctoral candidate in Arts, Education and Law at Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Steve is interested in using flipped learning to support active, learner-centred pedagogy in junior high school science. Email: sgrif128@eq.edu.au Dr Chris Campbell is a Senior Lecturer in Learning Innovation in Learning Futures/Griffith Online at Griffith University, Queensland. As an emerging research leader, she has been involved in numerous grants and projects around digital and emerging educational technologies. Chris' skills in implementing and trialling new technologies are well documented. Email: chris.campbell@griffith.edu.au Professor Christine McDonald is PVC for Arts, Education and Law at Griffith University, Queensland. She is a science educator interested in enhancing the scientific literacy of all learners and her research program explores how epistemic cognition in science is conceptualised by teachers and students and represented in science education curriculum materials. Email: c.mcdonald@griffith.edu.au Please cite as: Griffiths, S., Campbell, C. & McDonald, C. V. (2021). "A problem shared is a problem halved": Supporting early career science teachers to implement flipped learning. Issues in Educational Research, 31(2), 495-512. http://www.iier.org.au/iier31/griffiths-s.pdf