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Section 5. School Education
Pham Thi Binh,
PhD in Science Education, Faculty of Chemistry Email: ptbinh@hnue.eduvn Do Thi Dieu, Student, Faculty of Chemistry Faculty of Chemistry, Hanoi National University of Education E-mail: sweetwine3111998@gmail.com
DESIGN OF ONLINE LESSONS BASED ON FLIPPED CLASSROOM MODEL FOR TEACHING OF "OXYGEN-SULPHUR" CHAPTER IN VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY
Abstract: Flipped classroom (FC) model has been proved to be a constructive teaching model which results in effective student learning. Students study proactively, develop higher-order thinking and acquire self-efficacy competencies. This article analyses the challenges of applying the "Flipped classroom" model at high schools in Vietnam through establishing criterions suitable to design effective online lessons by FC model. Several online lessons for "Oxygen- Sulfur" chapter were built as examples of application of FC model in teaching of Chemistry for 10th grade.
Keywords: Flipped classroom, online lessons, self- efficacy, self- study, chemistry, oxygen-sulfur.
1. Introduction
The process of study can be divided into 2 stages: inquiring about new knowledge and practicing. In the traditional classroom model, teachers impart new knowledge and assign practical exercises to students. According to this model, students have to implement assigned tasks at a higher level of thinking which can often be challenging for students. In fact, teachers assign homework to a certain level that only basically needs applying theories to solve the problems, open problems or projects are really assigned to students; time spent on discussing problems at a high level of thinking is limited.
On the contrary, in the flipped classroom model (also known as flipped classroom or flipped learning (FL)), the knowledge-learning phase is transferred
by teachers to lectures and materials for students to learn at home and discussion about the material will be carried out in class [1]. This method overcomes the limitations in the traditional classroom model and develop self-learning capacity for students. Also, it keeps up with the technological conditions of modern society [1; 2].
The efficiency of FL model has been proved in many previous studies [3; 4]. In this model, online lessons play important role to help students receive basis knowledge before going to class. However, to achieve the efficiency in learning, online lectures have to be designed so that students can study at home (teachers can also use methods such as pre-recorded, videos, lectures which instruct students, but they are found to be less interesting, active and interactive than online lectures).
However, designing online lessons requires certain conditions in material facilities, skills in use ofinformation technology, and is time consuming... [1; 2].
In Vietnam, online lessons, educational establishments and teachers have narrow financial support to buy online lessons to teach; therefore, to apply FL model, teachers have to design online lessons by themselves. As a result, the model is not wildly used as a teacher method in Vietnam.
Originated from the advantages of FL model, the advantages and disadvantages in designing online lessons in Vietnam, we study how to build/design suitable, simple and effective online lessons so that teachers are provided with facilities and time to exemplify through lessons in chapter "Oxygen - Sulfur", Chemistry 10.
In this report, we used two methods: analysis, synthesis- based on the analysis of documents, to clarify the specificities of the FL model and cur-
The FL model can be considered as an integrated teaching model [6] which utilizes information technologies to support teaching to promote the learning process "outside the classroom". The study of the author group, Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, Jones (2010), conducted a synthesis of 46 empirical studies in the context of high school and university in the US [7]. They concluded that the FC model brings about effective learning, as you practice higher than traditional teaching. This result is due to the "Flipped Classroom" model that has created deep learning, meaningful learning environments as well as developing critical thinking and advanced learning.
rent evaluations of FL model. The proposed criteria and design processes used for online lesson will help guide students to self-study at home as will the FL model when applied as a teaching tool in high schools. Evaluation of the method will be carried out through a method of expert assessment.
2. Contents
2.1. Concept and evaluation of Flipped classroom model
The concept of FL model was proposed by Lage et.al in 2000 to respond to the different learning needs of learners [5]. The simplest definition of FL is "reversing the class is to convert class activities out of class and vice versa" [5]. Or understand simply reverse the traditional learning process, what the traditional class did, work at home and vice versa.
It is possible to understand and describe the FL model when compared FL to the traditional classroom (TL) model as presented in (Table 1).
In theory, the "Flipped classroom" model is based on the theoretical basis of active learning. Specifically, the viewpoint of exploring teaching actively and accessing knowledge through interaction process [8]. This model also helps create an environment that encourages learning autonomy as students have the opportunity to learn at their own pace and become responsible for building knowledge rather than waiting for knowledge from teachers (receiving passive knowledge). Thanks to information storage facilities, lectures can be reused easily, especially learners can listen and re- watch lessons until it is understood. Therefore, this model creates an equal
Table 1. - Comparing of activities in traditional and flipped classrooms
Activity Traditional Classroom Flipped Classroom
In class Teachers teach. Students listen/ imitate to know, understand new knowledge and skills. Teachers organize discussion, do activities for students to understand and apply knowledge.
At home Students do homework to apply theoretical knowledge. Students work with lectures through watching video lectures, online lessons, or interacting with teachers' materials and understand new skills knowledge.
opportunity to receive knowledge. Slow learning students have a lot of opportunities to absorb and understand knowledge.
By adopting this model, students will develop self-learning ability and forging skills of the 21st century; class becomes a place for interaction and exchange of multidimensional information. It enhances application of effective information technology in teaching, creating a teaching environment that enhances contact and interactions between teacher and student, and students themselves. Moreover, it is the combination of direct teaching and learning through building knowledge, creating
Table 2.- Requirements of high school education
an opportunity to personalize the educational process - it is not a complete substitute of a teacher with video tape as an online learning model.
2.2. Developing online lessons to guide students to self-study according to the Flipped classroom model in teaching chemistry at Vietnamese high schools
2.2.1. Challenges when applying FL model in Vietnamese high school
Some factors to ensure, the reality ofhigh school education and challenges when applying FL model using online lectures for students to study in Vietnam are shown in (Table 2).
of FL model and the reality and challenges in Vietnam
Factors to ensure Reality of high school education and challenges
Must have online lessons Very few domestic companies and websites provide online lessons. General education institutions have not invested in buying or building online lectures.
Must ensure material facilities to study online lessons. The internet is very popular in cities and rural areas. However, smartphones are the general choices for students.
Teachers and students must have certain computer skills to follow, manage, study through online lessons. Teachers can design online lessons. Informatics skills of students are quite good, but it is opposite with a large number of teachers who will manage courses. The construction of online lessons is difficult not only in terms of technology, manners but also time and economy.
Students have basic habits and self-study skills. Students do not have the habit of self-study, perseverance and seriousness to perform self-study.
In addition, a number of other factors are also the deterrence of applying the FL model such as high school students simultaneously being taught many subjects, an excessive amount of time to learn new lessons causing overloading with students; Learning materials that are difficult to interact with, inappropriate and abundant content and activities not attracting students to self-study.
2.2.2. Criterions for building of online lessons From analyzing the characteristics and requirements of online lectures, the real situation and challenges when applying the FL model and the current orientation of teaching and developing student capacity in Vietnam, we identify the targets build on-
line lessons to guide students to self-study following this model as follows:
1) Scientifically accurate contents, corresponding for contents and objectives of the lesson in the general curriculum;
2) Straightforward interaction, easy to use on electronic devices such as computers, iPads, smartphones;
3) The time to complete the lesson is not too long, approximate 25-30 minutes corresponding with 1-2 hours in class for fairly good students;
4) Diversified activities, attractive forms, increasingly using videos to attract students;
5) The activity direction is preferably constructed towards the engagement improving orientation.
It means that students need to carry out activities to create new knowledge on the basis of available knowledge and visual means, documents based on deductive, analogous or inductive methods. In other words, even if students do not learn directly with teachers, they also are explored the new knowledge in the direction of research and discovery, not just reading documents and listening to memorize knowledge;
6) Each content and activity should have clear, easy-to-understand instructions, supporting content, answers, feedbacks and evaluation of student performance;
7) Documents should have forced conditions between sections to force students to fulfill or meet as many percentages as required in the document;
8) Documents that pay attention to the differentiation of students' levels. That is, apart from the basic part that every student has to do, there are more optional and advanced tasks for students with fast speed and want to learn more.
2.2.3. The process and how to build online lessons to guide students to self-study according to FL model To build online lessons to guide students to self-study according to FL model, we define the process of 6 steps as follows:
Step 1: selection of document building software According to criterion No.2 in Section 2.2 and facilitate teachers to design documents, we choose Moodle software [*] This is the software to build lessons online, with Vietnamese, diverse formats, easy to use for both teachers and students.
Step 2: Select the appropriate content that applies the FL model
The content is not too difficult, the number of contents is suitable to required self-efficacy time. Based on the lesson content, students can choose one part or a whole lesson.
Step 3: Determine the method for knowledge formation Identify methods for knowledge formation: recurring or inductive, analogous or deductive. Then, selecting starting subjects, visual means, materials,
questions and tasks... for students' interaction and implement knowledge. This is an important step to design active activities for online lessons.
To determine the method for knowledge formation, should be done:
- List details and goals to achieve: based on knowledge, skill standards and textbooks.
- Determine relating knowledge and skills.
Determine the directly relating knowledge and
skills to the achievable knowledge, from which, students can deduce and explore new knowledge. This knowledge can be the content of previous lessons, or in other subjects, the younger classrooms and in reality.
Step 4: Select specific activity, name the activities and write the contents
Depending on the method of knowledge formation defined in step 3, select specific activities such as:
- Recollected exercises: multiple choice, short answers, drag and drop, puzzle...
- Read materials, observe images, diagrams, tables, lesson clips and answer questions then draw conclusions.
Naming the activities that must be in line with content ideas, appropriate to students' psychology.
Writing activity contents: Choose simple, effective, and multiform documents that are not too sophisticated about technology. They are suitable for level of almost teachers' technology abilities and waste their time.
Step 5: Overall analysis of activities and adjustments
Reconciliation of activities that determines the relevance to the objectives and content of the lesson, assess the richness and diversity of activities and adjustments. Balance image and text channels appropriately, calculate the time to complete the lesson to adjust the content accordingly.
Step 6: Test and correction
Please consult with other teachers and transfer to students for testing and then edit if needed.
2.3. Design of online lessons in "Oxygen -Sulfur" chapter from Chemistry Course for 10th grade in Vietnam
2.3.1. Analysis of the suitability of the FC model in teaching of "Oxygen - Sulfur" chapter
"Oxygen - Sulfur" is one of the contents in Vietnam high school Chemistry course which is suitable to apply FL model for the reasons below:
- Firstly, students have already known physical properties, chemical properties, preparation and application of O2, SO2, H2SO4 which is also one of the contents in the chapter "Oxygen-Sulfur". Therefore, students can recall the knowledge to systemize and construct the lesson.
- Secondly, according to the Chemistry program in high school in Vietnam, the chapter Oxygen - Sulfur is the sixth chapter of Chemistry 10.
The previous contents were: atomic structure, chemical bonding, periodic table, redox reaction, halogen group. Before that, the content of Chemistry in 8 and 9 grades also mentioned: the general properties of inorganic substances (metals, nonmetals, oxides, acids, bases, salts). In the Halogen chapter, students are familiar with the properties of substances by reasoning and expounding to form new knowledge about inorganic substances from the general properties of substances, atomic structure, and the theory of redox reaction. This results in the students' ability to interact with the online lesson for self-studying, under the guidance to explore and discover new knowledge (respond to the third criterion above).
- Thirdly, the obj ectives of teaching the "Oxygen -Sulfur" chapter is that students should have the ability to explain the physical, chemical properties, know the preparation of chemicals and apply knowledge to explain the phenomenon in nature, real life and production. This is not only the chance but also the reason to design learning tasks and increase the time to organize discussion about complicated problems in learning to promote students' high level ofthinking. The FL model is at an advantage with this objective.
- Finally, the visual media and materials supporting the formation of this chapter are also very abundant and easy to collect which is convenient to collect materials to design online lectures.
From the aforementioned reasons, we have chosen to build online lectures for lessons in "Oxygen -Sulfur" chapter, Chemistry 10: Oxide - ozone; Sulfur; Sulfur oxides. The link to the online lessons is URL: http://chemistryhnue.cf
2.3.2. The contents of online lessons
In this report, due to the limitation on the number of stages, we present and analyze the construction of "Sulfur oxides" lesson. This is same way to design other online lessons.
First of all, we determine aims, the relevant knowledge, abilities (step 3 in the section 2.2.3), thereby proposing the method ofknowledge formation (Table 3).
Table 3. - Analysis of the method of knowledge formation
Purpose Relating knowledge, skills The method of knowledge formation
1 2 3
- Indicate physical, acid oxide, redox properties, application and method of SO2 preparation. - Predict and explain the oxidative and reductive properties of SO2 based on the oxidation number. Students have already known: - The name and physical properties of SO2. - SO2 is acid oxide, which reacts to that property. - Recollect, systematize the name, physical properties, acid oxide properties of SO2 - From the reaction in which SO2 shows the oxidation and reduction stages that students have already known. Students determine the oxidation number, redox role of SO2, draw conclusions and explain the oxidative and reductive properties of SO2 and vice versa.
Table 4.- The learning activities in "Sulfur oxides" online lesson
1 2 3
- Can write chemical equations that illustrates the chemical properties of SO2. - Observe and conduct verifiable experiments, research and conclude chemical properties of SO2. - Distinguish SO2 from other known gases. - Some chemical reactions of SO2 in which it shows oxidation and reduction (Reactions with oxygen, bromine solution.). - Then, students give examples and draw conclusions.
Activity Description
Lesson introduction - Clip introduces the oxidation state of sulfur. Recalling knowledge of H2S and introducing lesson content and objectives
Activity 1: "Thach thufc tri nh&" (in English "Memory Challenge") - Students reminisce about the name and physical properties, acid oxide properties of SO2 (do multiple-choice True/ False exercises). Summary knowledge into a mind map by themselves, compare and edit according to the teacher's summary (mind map + teacher description)
Activity 2: "Ai nhanh hon" (in English "Who is faster") - Write reactions to illustrate the acid oxide properties of SO2, emphasize the relationship between the molar ratio of substances and salts produced when SO2 reacts with the basic solution. (This is the basis for explaining phenomena in reality)
Activity 3: "Kham pha" (in English "Discover") - Students write some known chemical equations in which SO2 shows as oxidation and reduction, thereby concluding and explaining these properties. - Summarize and supplement the mindset diagram in the above activity, systematize knowledge the whole lesson.
Activity 4: "Van dung- Chuyen nho hay thach thufc" (in English "Apply - Easy or Diffucult") - Students do some exercises to reinforce knowledge, contact knowledge with practice: recognize SO2, describe the phenomenon of the SO2 reacts with alkaline solution experiment, study poison handling skills when conducting experiments, acid rain.
Expanding: "Em co biet" (in English "Do you know ...?") - Provide materials for students to read more about acid rain phenomenon, the effects of acid rain, causes and remedies.
The orientation to build online lectures is for students who are discoverers of knowledge and based on the criteria, proposed above. The learning activities in "Sulfur oxides" online lesson are described in the (Table 4).
In the online lessons, we have followed the steps in section 2.2.3 and aim to achieve the criteria in section 2.2.2, in which special attention should be paid to the design of teaching-oriented
learning activities, discover. Students are those who create knowledge from existing skills and visual means, data... provided from the lecture Microsoft*
.
2.3.3. Interface of the web and lecture structures
The website interface and lectures are designed simple, which are easy to see and to use for teachers and students (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The website interface
Figure 2. Learning activities designed for the "Sulfur oxides" lesson
Each lecture corresponds to a course in the Moodle software. Each lesson includes sections: objectives, introduction, exploring and expanding activities. Each knowledge exploring activity has the following items:
- Activity name: It is named to create curiosity and challenge for students to attract students to perform all activities.
- Purpose: Indicate the purpose of the activity for student to better their understanding of the information need acquiring.
- Guidance: Depict missions, demands and the way to study.
There are plenty kinds of assignments such as: quizzes, theoretical and practical exercises, experimental tasks, exercises relate to reality in text, video and image forms.
- Lesson: the students give the answer and their ideas.
- Support: it has suggestions, documents that students can consult when they meet struggles to complete tasks. They have diversified and brief forms that attract students.
- Summary: Teachers totalize the lesson in video, mind-map or document forms to compare with the students' answers. They can save to all of these to study.
Some pictures depicting the interface and the structure of the "Sulfur oxides" lesson are shown in (Figure 2).
Thus, in the structure of each activity, students study on online lessons like studying with teachers, students always have supports to complete the tasks of lesson.
2.4. Evaluation for online lectures
Consult chemistry teachers in Hanoi, Vietnam and experts about: lesson content, time period for each lesson, flexibility when using devices to study, the positivity, the richness of activities in the lessons, the abundant variety of materials, forms.
The Feedback results are:
- The content of knowledge in the online lectures is accurate, consistent with the objectives and the curriculum of Chemistry 10 in Vietnam.
- The time for each task is reasonable, not too long.
- Students can get access to the source through varied compatible devices.
- Diverse activities are designed with regard of the direction of students, they can substantially build up new knowledge on their knowledge foundation, experience, materials and visual means.
- Activities in each lesson are plentiful, intriguing and relevant to the lesson objectives.
- Eye-catching and attractive forms.
- Interesting activity names that captivate students.
The assessment of online lectures is built in the direction of active teaching, in accordance with the objectives and content of lessons in the general chemistry program in Vietnam. It is a good document to apply the FL model.
3. Conclusion
Flipped classroom is a positive teaching model in line with the current educational development goal and has favorable conditions to apply in high school. Therefore whether teachers can build or support online lectures to guide students' self-study appropriately and effectively will be a key factor to apply this effective teaching model, improving the quality of teaching Chemistry study as well as other subjects in high school in Vietnam. The paper analyze the challenges in developing online lectures in Vietnam, propose criteria and processes for online lecture construction and design 3 lectures in "Oxygen - Sulfur" Chapter in Vietnam high school Chemistry course. Lectures are evaluated to build in the direction of active teaching, in accordance with the objectives, content of the lessons in the program, is a suitable document to apply the flipped classroom model.
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