Flipping for Fractions: An Action Research Project

Abstract

Getting young students to understand and enjoy the concept of fractions is one of the challenges I continually face as a classroom teacher. After the Common Core State Standards were adopted, a deeper understanding of operations involving fractions was required in the fifth grade. With that came persistent issues in student engagement and retention, as evidenced by weekly data team meetings with grade level colleagues. To address this need, I developed an action research project to flip my classroom and evaluate how interactive video instruction could impact attention and learning on fraction multiplication. Over the course of two weeks, students accessed a blend of ready-made and teacher-created videos on the Interactive Video Learning Platform (IVLP), PlayPosit. PlayPosit allowed me to turn passive video instruction into a responsive learning environment. Each video was designed to pause at specific timed intervals, which then prompted viewers to answer a multiple-choice or free response question to invite reflection. Subsequently, students received instant feedback and I gathered valuable data to drive instruction. In addition, constructivism was employed to allow students to showcase their learning on collaborative problem solving tasks. This paper will discuss the design of the project. Lessons learned include the importance of curating appropriate video content and testing technology tools prior to implementation. Overall, flipping my classroom using PlayPosit transformed a math module on multiplying fractions into a stimulating learning experience for students.