Action Research on Using Flipped Classroom Principles to Teach Upper High School Biology

This paper reports on the design of Action Research on using the Flipped Classroom Model to teach the chemical composition of the cell unit to two 11 th grade classrooms of a school in a south low to middle class area of Athens. Two more classes are used as a control group. The Flipped Classroom Model suggests lessons should be delivered at home through video lectures while homework is conducted at school by having students working and discussing in groups to clarify ideas, solve problems and make queries. Research questions concern the extent to which Flipped Classroom can influence to a statistically significant level student motivation and achievement. 1. Terms definition A. The Flipped Classroom Model turns teaching to its head by delivering lectures at home via teacher made videos and by moving homework during class work time. Both activities are common, however they are seen under a fresh and novel perspective. Doing “homework” at school allows students to make queries, clarify concepts and processes, solve problems and develop ideas by working in pairs and in groups, thus creating a cooperative learning environment. It also encourages the teacher to work with students on a one to one basis, thus supporting personalized instruction. Interaction and discussion among students and students and teacher are conducive to the success of the flipped method. B. Educational Action Research (Carr & Kemmis, 2002, pp. 164-165) is a term used to describe a family of activities in curriculum development, professional development, school improvement programs and systems planning and policy making. These activities have in common the identification of strategies of planned action, which are implemented, and then systematically submitted to observation, reflection and change. Action Research aims at the improvement of three areas: firstly the improvement of practice, namely action. Secondly, the improvement of the understanding of the practice by its practitioners, and thirdly the improvement of the situation in which the practice takes place. Minimum requirements for action research to succeed are three: firstly, the project takes as its subject-matter action susceptible of improvement, secondly the project proceeds as a spiral of cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting actions (Habermas, 1974) interconnected and inter