Awardees: Henrike Besche, Randall King, Elizabeth Lemoine, and Barbara Cockrill (HMS)

Summary: Awardee will use efficiency metrics to study the best preparation methods for a flipped classroom.

The flipped classroom is a discussion-based classroom format, that promotes critical thinking over rote memorization. Awardees have observed that the model requires both students and faculty at Harvard Medical School (HMS) to spend extra time preparing for class. As there is currently no set best practice for determining the most effective method of preparing for the flipped classroom, the project team aims to use efficiency metrics to determine what those methods may be.

The awardees have several aims in which they plan to reach their goal:

• Create an efficiency graph for the entire first year of curriculum at Harvard Medical School;
• Use mixed methods to assess what is driving perceived difficulty and performance in each quadrant of the efficiency graph; and
• Create faculty development resources on how to design effective pre-class materials

Awardees will develop a set of best practices based on their findings for instructional design of pre-class materials for the flipped classroom to be shared across the University.