Flipped classrooms sometimes fall flat. In this third and final post, we continue our exploration of why flipped classrooms fail (see Part 1 and Part 2). You will gain diverse perspectives and new strategies from expert practitioners in K-12 and higher education including flipped learning pioneer, Aaron Sams.  This post is part of The Neighborhood, a special Turn To Your Neighbor series where we invite innovative educators from around the globe to discuss a variety of education topics. We encourage you to interact with us and contribute your own theories on flip class flops in the comments section or via Twitter.

Aaron Sams, Educator, Author Consultant of Sams Learning Designs and Saint Vincent College.  The quickest way to derail a flipped classroom is to assign a video, get frustrated when a large percentage of the class did not view the video, then proceed to lecture the content. By doing so the teacher sends a message to the irresponsible student that the teacher will bail students out when they make bad choices and there is not motivation to make good choices. The teacher sends a message to the responsible student that their work was in vain and there is no motivation to complete the assigned work in the future. Instead, a teacher must have a procedure in place to monitor and deal with students who haven’t done their flipped assignment. Follow Aaron @chemicalsams

Crystal Kirch, Digital Learning Coach, Tustin Unified School District. Flipped classrooms fail when teachers do not design and differentiate the classroom learning environment based on student feedback and needs.  I believe teachers need to have a method (such as my WSQ method) to hold students accountable for engaging and interacting with the video content and to give them structured processing and reflection time after the video.  This helps to ensure students come to class ready to dive deeper and apply their knowledge, as well as gives the teacher information about specific student misconceptions to address during face to face time. Follow Crystal @cystalkirch

Ken Bauer, Associate Professor and Board Member, Tecnológico de Monterrey and Flipped Learning Network. Flipped classrooms fail when there is a mismatch of understanding of responsibilities. In general, students are waiting for faculty to “teach them” and the newly flipped teacher is eager for the students to grab this amazing opportunity to have control. This shift requires time and a building of trust in the learner/mentor relationship. In my experience, some students embrace this easily, the majority take a few months and others will take much longer to embrace this change; learning is a social process and a relationship of trust is essential. Follow Ken @ken_bauer

Helaine W. Marshall, Director of Language Education Programs and Associate Professor of Education and Board Member, LIU Hudson and Flipped Learning Network. One reason for failure stems from the mindset of the educator – that flipped learning is a single concept. As with any comprehensive approach, flipped learning consists interlocking concepts that work together. Unfortunately, due to misconceptions, or the tendency towards expediency, some educators simply flip the classwork and the homework and call that flipped learning. Or, they may assess the students in traditional ways that do not reflect their mastery of deeper learning, such as standardized tests that favor discrete point evaluation techniques. And so on. Without implementing ALL of the elements of the flipped learning approach, success may prove elusive. Those who pick and choose do so at their peril. Follow Helaine @lainemarsh

Matthew Whitson, Teacher, English 1, Weatherford ISD. In my opinion flipped classrooms fail because of fear.  Fear of the unknown factors that may drive or derail learning. Fear that people will not see the model as a legitimate model in spite of the research. As a teaching society we are slow to allow ourselves to relinquish control of that which we hold most dear out of fear.  Our sense of control can empower us and give us comfort, but in retaining this control we fail to ask ourselves the question, “What would our society be like if learning really did have no walls and access for all?” Follow Matthew @mwhitsonmroo

Even with these very common bumps, thousands of flipped classrooms around the world succeed. By practicing some of the strategies in these three posts my colleagues and I hope you will avoid the common pitfalls we have all blundered through. When students engage, like those in Professor Mizokami’s psychology class in Kyoto Japan, the power of flipped classrooms prevails.