Science teacher goes wrong

For those that follow my blog over this past academic year I have been flipping my IB diploma Physics class.  In a previous blog (I Launch myself onto You tube) I shared my initial vodcasts and the related reflection.  So now a few months further down the line I am returning to further reflect on the vodcasts that I produce.  I have happily continued to use the Camtasia software for recording and editing as I find it easy to use and crucially upload with.

The first improvement was quite straight forward.  MOVEMBER was over so I could thankfully remove that ridiculous moustache.  This took an even greater importance when I recognised the unnerving similarities between myself and the lead character of the excellent series Breaking Bad which unfortunately depicts a science teacher loosing their way.

 

The second issue I highlighted was my own hand writing.  For this I did what I often do in the classroom used type text in some for of presentation software such as PowerPoint.  I had been looking at other vodcasts on the net and was aware that some students had commented negatively about vodcasts which spent an excessive amount of time watching the presenter write things out.  Yet had also seen examples where the teachers then rushed through content. With this in mind here is one the vodcasts I produced using these tools considering practical methods to deduce a specific heat capacity.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZLkggrTGsg&context=C3d40546ADOEgsToPDskKrcGMZV9rSWgtTUOUQKRCi[/youtube]

I selected this vodcast as it highlights two reflections of my own.  Firstly I recognise that at the end as I am going through some calculation examples my explanation kind of tails off.  I really should add some statements like “now consider this question….. and now pause and do you own calculations before the answer appears”.  Secondly my discussion about practical Physics is not very practical – it is a PowerPoint and a floating head.  To capture this aspect I will need to more carefully consider where I set up my webcam or bring someone else into support my filming.  An example of the integration of techniques I am therefore considering is shown here with a vodcast by noted practitioners of the flipped classroom technique Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmanns who are discussing a similar topic.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GubjiyM81S8&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

With respect to my own class progression my first semester has been completed and the average class results are higher then in previous years as are those of the best students but this is a small and talented cohort some I don’t want to over analyse those facts.  For now my flipped classroom journey goes on.