FLIPPED LECTURES

As an alternative to traditional lectures, we offer a flipped lecture option. Flipped lectures are self-paced and students are expected to watch recorded lecture videos prior to attending class. The flipped sections meet only once a week (on Wednesday's) and are designed to engage students with hands-on activities in a group or collaborative setting. Flipped lectures can be helpful for those who are looking for an alternative instructional strategy other than traditional lectures. Flipped lectures are only recommended for those who can manage their time well to watch video lectures prior to the class. Monday is designated as the "film day" where students watch video lectures. You are encouraged to Flipped lectures meet 11-12:20pm only on Wednesday in Sherrod 001 (except for the first and last lecture, where you attend the traditional lecture).

Scroll down to learn more about flipped lectures and to apply.

Flipped lecture activities.   Flipped lecture students are expected to complete the following activities prior to the flipped sessions:

• Watch the video lectures by Prof. Bob Sedgewick. (See a sample video)
• Provide Comments. You are expected to provide at least 3 comments on videos (anonymous is ok). Comments can be of the form of questions, discussion topics or things of interest.
• Respond to local Prompts. In some videos, specially marked "local prompts" appear at the beginning of the comments thread and are designed to engage you as you watch the videos.
• Take HTML quiz. This quiz tests your understanding of the concepts after you watch the videos.
• Endorse comments. If you see comments you'd like to discuss more in class, vote.

• Review main concepts (30 minutes). Mini lecture and discussion.
• Solve individual exercises (20 minutes). Solve short problems, individually.
• Solve group problems (30 minutes) as small self-organized groups

Why flipped lectures?   We have a rich collection of MOOC (Massively Open Online Course) videos and other supplemental material that is readily available for students in COS 226. In a flipped classroom, we deliver factual information through videos. We dedicate the class time to do mini lectures and to discuss more conceptual questions. Research conducted by Eric Mazur at Harvard found that almost 40% of the students who pass a traditional course do not often have the skills to apply knowledge to problems that are unfamiliar. On the other hand, students who focus more on conceptual understanding perform better in long term problem-solving exercises. Here is an interesting video to watch to understand this more. The video is long. You can start from @35:00 and watch about 20-30 minutes to understand how flipped instructions can be beneficial.

Here is a recent article from Wired magazine about flipped lectures.

What Princeton students have to say about flipped lectures.   Kaitlin (Katie) Hanss is a Princeton junior majoring in Computer Science. In Fall 2014, she took the flipped lecture session. Listen to Katie to understand the overall impression of flipped lectures, how she prepares for the class, about the mini lecture, how the individual and group worksheets help learn more conceptual ideas etc.

To apply.   Before applying for the flipped lecture, think carefully about your style of learning. You may be a good candidate for the flipped lecture

• If you can learn a lot from a video lecture.
• You do not always keep up with the pace of traditional lecture (or get distracted and do other things in a traditional lecture).
• You are motivated to complete pre-lecture activities.
• You are ready to be challenged with more conceptual questions than conventional questions.

Accessing lecture videos.   You will use the video and document annotation platform Classroom Salon to access and annotate the lecture videos. Each lecture video is divided into several segments, of approximately 10 minutes each. For example, analysis of algorithms is a collection of 5 short video lectures. You can speed up the videos if you need to watch them faster. To gain access to the classroom salon platform:

• Create a Salon account - http://classroomsalon.com/main.aspx#register using the code: princeton.
• After you create an account, join this salon - http://classroomsalon.com/salons/view.aspx?id=2427 to access the videos.

Video annotations.   As you watch the videos add location specific comments using tags to categorize them. This is an important part of your flipped learning experience. The comments you make will help you reflect on the video as well as inform us how we should conduct the flipped session. In general make about 3 comments (more is better) per lecture (across all short videos in the lecture) using some pre-defined tags. You can make comments anonymous if necessary (you will still credit for making annotations.
Here is a list (or a variation) of the most common tags:

• I find this interesting: something you find to be very interesting.
• I need a clarification here: something you need further clarification.
• I'd like to discuss this more: flag topics that you want discussed in more depth.
• I find this difficult to understand: concepts you did not understand at all.
• Define your own tag: You can write your own tag to describe a comment.

In-video prompts.   Look for special questions embedded into specific places of the video titled "local prompts". You can click on the time stamp for the comment to find the location for the local prompt. Click on the "reply" button on the comment to respond and then expand the replies to see the correct answer.

Participation points.   You will earn points for participation. Therefore it is important to make comments, answer other student questions on salon, reply to local prompts etc. We will discuss this more in the first flipped lecture.

Learn from others.   We learn best by observing what others do and do not do. In Classroom Salon, you will be able to see what others have commented on. Read them when you can, vote on them and reply or extend the replies as necessary. Even if you do not make any comments in a particular video, endorse other student comments so we can discuss them online or in class.