In 2013, Dr Melanie Bishop, working with a
team from Macquarie University's Learning
and Teaching Centre, used the flipped classroom
model to design a new Marine Science unit
that engages learners in real-world problems.
Learning activities in the new unit encourage
and enhance interaction by interweaving media,
teacher facilitation and student activity
into each week of study. Teacher presence
is integral, with a guided flow of learning
facilitated by videos, checklists and blogging
activities to be completed prior to attending
the weekly workshop.
The media collection scaffolds student interaction
and facilitates viewing marine resources through
the lens of multiple stakeholders. Particularly
powerful are videos of Dr Bishop in the field,
providing authentic and current information
to complement readings and other media.
RSS feeds are also provided from experts and
stakeholders on pertinent marine issues.
Students can use Twitter and Flickr to share and disseminate
evidence and examples from the topic content.
Innovative assessment strategies, including
a multimedia Treasure Hunt also encourage
active involvement in the unit. Each student
is provided with a Macquarie University WordPress
multi-site blog to share reflections on the
weekly topic and on their own learning.
A class blog roll is embedded in the unit to
aggregate a feed from each student's blog.
Each topic culminates in a weekly interactive
workshop that consists of group and individual
activities to apply and demonstrate their
learning in robust and authentic challenges.
Meaningful interaction with the online resources
and active involvement in the topic's activities
are prerequisites for the workshop, and in
combination necessitate a deeper involvement,
understanding of and engagement with maintaining
marine resources.
