Creating Screencasts for a Flipped Engineering Course

Primary Presenter: Garret Nicodemus

Organization: University of Colorado Boulder

Role: Postdoctoral Researcher, Instructor

Track: Ask an Expert

Level: For Mere Mortals 

Abstract: The flipped classroom approach utilizes screencasts to provide lecture materials (i.e. introductory topics, example problems, etc.) to students prior to class. Students receive typical lecture materials on their own time and at their own pace. Instructors utilize class time to work out problems similar to those in homework and tests, and address students misconceptions using conceptests. Class time is spent working with students rather than lecturing, and this all starts with creating a useful screencast.

Bio: Garret Nicodemus earned his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at CU Boulder in 2009 and has since worked on the development of active learning materials, including conceptests and screencasts, with Professors John Falconer and Will Medlin and senior instructor Janet deGrazia. He has taught a sophomore level course using conceptests and screencasts and plans to use a flipped model approach, using screencasts to deliver materials pre-class, this summer in a sophomore level engineering course. He presented at the COLTT conference last year on creating and using screencasts in chemical engineering courses.

Description: This presentation will primarily focus on the why and how of creating screencasts to use in engineering courses, and how we plan to flip some of our courses using some of the 575 screencasts we have already created and posted online at our site, www.learncheme.com, YouTube, and iTunesU. This summer I am teaching a sophomore level engineering course and plan to use the flipped classroom approach throughout the course, thus being able to discuss the methods involved in taking this approach and feedback received from the students. Utilizing the new Ted Ed platform, we plan on taking our screencasts on YouTube and building flipped classroom modules. The presentation will also show the audience how we make screencasts. We expect that concluding the presentation, the audience will know why screencasts are powerful resources to incorporate into their teaching pedagogy, know how to make screencasts, and access ones already online, create a flipped classroom using TED Ed and videos on YouTube, and hear recent results of a case study in which we utilized this approach.