Ten simple rules for implementing a flipped classroom

This article aims to share some tips for implementing a flipped classroom, with examples from biology and computational biology. The proposed rules are:

This article aims to share some tips for implementing a flipped classroom, with 2 examples from biology and computational biology. The original idea of the flipped 3 classroom involves reconsidering the type of work done by students autonomously (e.g., 4 at home or in a library) and in class with the teacher, to provide a more active and 5 effective learning experience for students [1,2]. Importantly, many practices are 6 associated with the generic term 'flipped classroom'. Here, we will not describe all the 7 different forms, but we refer readers to comprehensive articles on the subject [3, 4]. 8 1 10 simple rules 22 The ten simple rules presented below are inspired by the French national conference on 23 flipped classrooms, called CLIC, which has taken place in Paris since 2015. On the basis 24 of the presentation of one of the authors (MB) at CLIC 2018, together with the 25 audience's remarks during the presentation and the recommendations from one of the 26 references [18], we have re-analyzed these rules from our practitioner's point of view and 27 the perspective of the current literature. These rules have also been presented and 28 discussed during the 2020 CLIC conference (CLIC 2020). 29 1.1 Rule 1. Invert time, and say it 30 The basic principle of the flipped classroom involves considering the articulation of 31 teaching and learning time [1,2]. Whereas schools and universities have long worked on 32 a transmissive model, teaching no longer involves solely frontally led courses [6]. 33 The spread of this practice has been accompanied by reflections on the nature of the 34 tasks self-directed by learners. The goal is not giving more [18] but moving away from 35 lower cognitive level classroom activities, and performing in-class tasks that require 36 greater support from the teacher [4, [19][20][21] (Table 1). With this model, the transmission 37 of knowledge occurs remotely, but knowledge assimilation can occur face-to-face, via 38 active pedagogy sessions [7]. The inverted class then enables maximization of the 39 'active' time in the classroom by moving the discovery of knowledge outside the 40 classroom, without decreasing efficiency [22]. 41  • Ensuring access for all students is crucial [18]. Students must have the right 92 equipment at home (internet connection, computer, or tablet) or access to a 93 properly equipped library.

94
• Learners must also be guided and supervised when using each new approach and 95 tool [18]. become acquainted with the teaching material and online tools with the help from the 105 teacher or teaching assistants. Teachers also should be patient during the first weeks, so 106 that the students become confident about the method and the tools.

107
Before class, teachers must ensure that the resources made available have been 108 consulted [18], and the required tasks have been performed. Even if the activity 109 performed autonomously by students is of a relatively low cognitive level, support is

118
• Write a summary of the studied material. The produced summary can later be 119 reviewed by the students' peers.

120
• Have students each list one thing that they found interesting and another that 121 they want clarification on.

122
• Collectively enrich a course trail or share the results of a search in a collaborative 123 writing document. This activity is, however, subject to limited support and 124 therefore must be followed by a class exchange session to make sure that the main 125 elements are well understood. One key idea in flipping a class is making room for active learning during lectures [22]. 136 In active learning, students are involved and engage with the course material in a large 137 range of activities, such as discussions, quizzes, or problem-solving. . . Active learning, 138 compared with traditional lecture-based teaching, has been found to improve student 139 achievement [7], and some researchers have suggested that the performance of flipped 140 classrooms could actually be explained by the use of active learning [27].

141
Many types of active learning strategies can be explored, from summarizing book 142 chapters to teaching part of the course [28]. Among the activities that can be 143 recommended in class, a recent review [22]  More original methods can also be used, such as simulation games [29] or working 149 side by side with students on research questions [30].

150
Time outside the class should not be passive, however, because any activity can be 151 adapted in a more active manner [31].

152
In Table 1, we highlighted the interest in analyzing the tasks and activities that 153 students must perform in the course of their learning. Most challenging tasks should be 154 conducted in class with the guidance of the lecturer and through active learning. In the 155 field of computational biology, learning a programming language and performing 156 research projects are typical examples of learning objectives that are difficult to reach 157 via traditional lecturing but strongly benefit from active learning. Interactive material 158 such as Jupyter notebooks [32,33] or the Rosalind auto-correcting exercise 159 collection [34] are valuable resources for learning how to program and discovering 160 bioinformatics algorithms. Engaging teams of students in open research challenges is 161 also a unique opportunity for students to learn what a research project is about [35].

162
The number of pedagogical strategies proposed could be overwhelming for a teacher 163 who would like to try flipped classrooms. However, teachers should keep in mind that 164 errors are acceptable. Many iterations may be necessary to obtain an acceptable 165 pedagogical scenario [9]. In that regard, one interesting and encouraging observation is 166 the 'teacher effect', i.e. that enthusiastic teachers have a positive effect just through 167 trying [36]. We interpret this observation as a right for teachers to tinker. A potential advantage of flipped classrooms is that they can develop cooperation skills 170 among students [37]. Cooperation has been observed to be an important parameter 171 allowing the efficiency of flipped classrooms [38].

172
Typical examples of activities that can be performed in teams are editing shared 173 documents, creating videos, or editing Wikipedia pages [39]. From this perspective, 174 many tools now have a 'collaborative' feature to promote team production (e.g., 175 Framapad, Prezi, Quizizz, Google Docs, and wikis). In the field of computational 176 biology, editing and sharing computer code [35] are possible with version control 177 systems and online collaborative development platforms such as GitHub or Gitlab [40]. 178 Events such as coding hackathons can also be challenging opportunities. 179 To the extent that cooperation is a pedagogical objective, assessing the nature of the 180 collaborative work is appropriate [4]. One way to do so is involving peers in 181 evaluation [41].  Flipped classrooms require teachers to be explicit (rule #3) regarding the 203 organization of the course (learning outcomes, assessments, teaching strategies, and 204 learning materials. . . ). We believe that this aspect could benefit students with special 205 needs. In addition, given that the transmissive portion of learning is studied 206 individually and autonomously by students, this framework could in principle be 207 adapted to student needs (e.g., by using different fonts or color schemes). Engaging students to work on teaching material outside the classroom requires teachers 210 to anticipate broad, inclusive, and seamless access to their material. Some technical 211 solutions have already been provided above.

212
In class, some material will be needed to enable teamwork, such as flipcharts and 213 sticky notes. To support learning situations in teams, the need to reorganize the space 214 in the classroom quickly becomes apparent. This arrangement aims to facilitate 215 exchanges between students but also illustrates changes in the posture of the teachers. 216 Adoption of the flipped classroom approach is usually accompanied by the teacher's 217 reflection on the classroom layout, such that the teacher is no longer in front of or 218 behind the students, but instead is close to or even in the middle of the students. The 219 teacher then shifts 'from sage on the stage to guide on the side' [42]. This organization 220 often results in the establishment of work islands within which each team is invited to 221 have an empty chair to allow the teacher to be 'beside the students'. One advantage of a flipped classroom is bringing experiment and discovery back into 224 the classroom. All trials and errors must be documented and written down, not only to 225 track them but also to allow for retrospective analysis of the pedagogical approach used. 226 We advise teachers after each class to take a few minutes to write down what be improved upon in the next class. The students can be involved in that process. In 229 our experience, adjustments proposed by students are often useful. Moreover, the 230 process of consulting students helps nurture their intrinsic motivation [43,44].  Students' productions can also be shared or published, then included in their 240 portfolios, thus documenting their competencies. In the field of bioinformatics, a 241 particularly appealing option is the sharing of code via development platforms such as 242 GitHub or Gitlab [35,40].

244
This article aims to gather some tips for implementing a flipped classroom. In addition 245 to changing the teacher's posture ('from sage on the stage to guide on the side' [42]), 246 the inverted class approach changes the atmosphere and working conditions for both 247 teachers and students.

248
Designing and setting up a flipped classroom is often accompanied by an increased 249 teacher workload, which could be limited by adopting several strategies mentioned 250 above: use of resources produced by others, automated corrections, or peer 251 assignments [45]. Working in pedagogical teams or communities of practice is also a way 252 of sharing the burden of work.

253
One aspect that we also highlighted is the lack of research on flipped classrooms [16]. 254 Therefore, enabling participatory research on the subject will be important to evaluate 255 and document the multiple forms of flipped classrooms.