"Wait? What the heck is the CPI?"

"Mr. B, what the heck is the CPI again?"  I heard this question numerous times over the past few weeks.  After watching assigned several resources, students "should" have known the definition of the CPI.  However, students were still struggling to grasp the vocabulary.  I encouraged them to look it up, to re-watch the video.  "Mr. B, I need to talk about it with somebody in class.  It doesn't make sense unless I talk about it myself."  What I noticed was that students needed application immediately upon learning a concept.  Application solidifies a concept.

Over the last two-three weeks, the Money, Banking and Finance flipped class focused on using intensive tutoring sessions to learn concepts.  In addition to students receiving direct instruction from Khan Videos and digital resources, those who understand the material were allowed to move at their own pace.

Many students flourished.  However, what quizzes and exam showed was that students really need application with vocabulary that is identical to their direct instruction.  When students were given application problems with synonyms for key vocab instead of the same term used in class, they became confused quite easily (two days lost to reteaching).  However, when the vocabulary was aligned consistently from direct instruction/Khan Videos with the assessments, students performed better.


Student comments included the following:
"I like the flipped model where we can work independently if we get the concept."
"I like it when you (Mr. B) lecture because it makes more sense."
"I get confused by having numerous different resources discuss things in different ways."
"I need practice problems to understand the concept during the videos."
"Reading a text makes more sense than the Khan Video or lecture because I can move at my own pace."

For this next unit, I'm going to try the following:
-Lecturing as a means of direct instruction.  I'll build application problems into the lectures.
-Students will still alternate days with me an in the learning commons.
-After lecture, we will break into a tutor session.  Students who want to work independently will be allowed to do so in either my room or the learning commons.  Students who need additional help will stay in the classroom.
-I'm going to use Khan Academy as a support tool to provide students with more context after I've introduced the material.