John Broome’s Teaching Spotlighted by National Association

John P. Broome, assistant professor in curriculum & instruction and director of secondary education and preK-12 education in the College of Education, was spotlighted in the latest edition of Keying In, a publication of the National Business Education Association (NBEA). This publication showcased how and why professors from around the country used the “flipped classroom” (or reverse teaching) model in their instruction.

For Broome, the answer was more than incorporating engaging technology. It was to address his enabling of students to not complete their course readings. In his opinion, the more educators summarize readings (instead of clarify), fewer students read and more fake and “do college.”

Excerpt from the article:

“John Broome flipped his classroom to solve a problem. But Broome’s issue was ideology, not logistics—class time was consumed with summarizing course readings. This left little time for content application, but more importantly, few opportunities for guiding students’ critical thinking abilities. He felt his courses were missing their potential.

‘Those who do the work do the learning. Summarizing content for them takes the thinking away from them,’ he says. ‘Too many educators might be enabling this.’

Broome compiled a list of resources students could use to prep for class: readings and videos from education associations, professional learning communities, and other universities. Before class, students took online quizzes to assess what they’d learned.

Class time was freed up for applying new knowledge while Broome provided guidance, initiated reflective discussions, and aided students. The less he talked, the more he got to know his students and the more he was able to provide personalized instruction and feedback. ‘My students were very receptive to more individual attention and help with activities,’ he says. ‘It made my classes more personable and productive.’

And because Broome refused to enable students, they began taking more responsibility for content and more risks with it, in a safe learning environment.

‘Not all students learn best at the same time. [By flipping the classroom] learning new content isn’t constrained to an artificial class time,’ he says. ‘Students can approach learning when their brains are available to process new information. It provides them with ownership of learning when [the time] is best for them.’

This year Broome received a grant from his university to begin making his own videos and other digital resources. ‘This takes a lot of time and dedication,’ he says, ‘but this way my students get the most out of my courses.’”

Dr. Broome is currently in the second UMW Online Learning Initiative cohort and learning new software and skills to continue to “flip” his education courses.