Flip The Page: Reinvigorating Literature in the Classroom through Flipped Learning

Flipped Learning is a new educational approach, which supports the pedagogical needs of today’s students. In the Flipped approach, instructors make content available to students before class through web-based technologies, allowing for student-centered lessons. Following a Flipped approach on our literature course, literature texts were provided to students prior to class, leaving class-time free for discussion. Though effective, the design was instructor-centric. On the second course, aiming for a student-centric approach, students posted thematic artifacts onto a digital platform prior to class, and then shared their choices in class. Having tried two approaches, we wanted to compare the different classes’ experiences. To do this, the following questions arose: Does providing student choice in material selection affect feelings of ownership and autonomy?; In which approach do students feel most engaged before class?; In which approach do students feel most prepared for class?; To answer these questions, data from student focus groups and end-ofsemester student surveys were compared. Based on data comparison, we identified that in the second approach the students perceived higher levels of student ownership, autonomy, engagement, and preparedness. These results form the basis of how the next course can be adapted to further enhance students’ learning experience.