I'm starting this branch for people who are using or are interested in learning about flipped class techniques, standards-based grading, peer instruction, and other "student-centered" approaches to music theory and musicianship pedagogy. At our discussion this afternoon, we thought it would be good to start some online discussion & sharing. I'd like to keep the pedagogy group in the loop, but not hijack their listserv for our purposes. I thought we could start here, and then "branch" out to other place(s). What do you guys think?

A couple options we could try are: twitter (with a hashtag like #flippedtheory or something), branch (which could easily be shared on Twitter), Diaspora* (diasporaproject.org and join diaspora.com), individual blogs (shared via twitter also, perhaps), and github (which doubles as a sharing/collaboration site and a social network surrounding those resources). I can share more about those resources later, if you want. Do you have other suggestions or thoughts about these?

I'm enjoying branch/twitter. It would be nice to avoid signing up for something new :)

Though I also really liked the idea of using Diaspora as a music theory social network free of all of the snark, baby pictures, and George Takei memes.

Bryn, I agree on both points. I'd like to avoid signing up for something new, but Diaspora has a lot of cool advantages. It also could be that something like what the Networking Committee is working on would be good for us, too: sharing via blogs, github, twitter, branch, and then having a site that curates and links to the best of that content. (Or we could try to get the NC site to have a flipped theory pedagogy category.)

Here are my notes from our Saturday meeting: wp.me

Thanks, Kris, for spearheading this initiative. I look forward to sharing ideas and learning a great deal from what others have to say.

Kris, thanks for sharing this. I would've liked to attend the informal session; guess I need to read emails more carefully!! Looking forward to seeing what folks are doing with this. I may just lurk for a while.

So far, folks seem pretty content with Twitter and Branch for discussions. Is that true?

If not, what other services would be good for having open discussions and resource sharing?

If so, we should probably settle on a hashtag for Twitter that's unique to our discussion. #flipclass, for instance, is useful for us to follow and participate in, but it's a huge community, most of whom are MS and HS teachers. It would be good to have something for our much smaller community for easy sharing and following.

I like #flippedtheory or the more general #theorypedagogy (we could invite others in the interest group to use that for other related discussions).

Thoughts? Other ideas?

I think #musictheoryped might be a little more specific and is the same length as #theorypedagogy . I agree that we could use it for discussing more than just flipped classroom stuff. We could always include #flipclass if we wanted to get in on that discussion as well.

I agree with Bryn that #musictheoryped is more specific to our interests. I like it.

Yes, I also like #musictheoryped, allowing for broader discussion, but still within the purview of music theory.

Another vote for #musictheoryped!

I like it, too! Why don't we start using it on Twitter, and we can link to any long-form material (such as blog posts, articles, and branch discussions) from Twitter as well, and just append that hashtag.

For those new to Twitter, here's my intro for music scholars: kris.shaffermusic.com

I'm curious how/if you all think that flipped classes can work on a large scale. I'm teaching a large music theory course (50-75 students) where I lecture only once or twice a week and my TAs do the remaining teaching (to smaller groups) the rest of the week. (Classes were structured similarly at CCM, and know that schools like IU have similar formats.) I just don't know how to flip that class. I can imagine it being excruciatingly boring! Or am I overthinking this? Is it already sort of flipped as long as I encourage my TAs NOT to lecture, but to do work during class?

Brian, I'd recommend checking out Eric Mazur and "peer instruction." It's not video-at-home/homework-in-class, but it works really well to engage large classes and make big advantages in large "lecture" classes. There's a lot of research behind it, and it was designed for 200-student lecture classes with TA sections. I use it a lot for introducing new topics in theory, and it works extremely well. Check out Mazur's "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer." This was my intro to "flipping" theory. (Probably why I do it differently than some others.) youtube.com

Thanks for the video link, Kris. Has anyone else noticed the irony of a lecture that extols the benefits of interactive peer instruction? Given the amount of buzz and excitement there is about flipped/peer/active pedagogies, why do our conference presentations and workshops use old-school content delivery techniques? In this video, we have one of the leading scholars on PI giving a very non-PI lecture! The only conference I've been to that really embraces active learning within the presentations is ISSOTL. Are there others out there too? If it's good for our students, isn't it good for us too?

I guess you have to speak to your audience. When you're trying to convert lecturers, you have to lecture!

That said, the networking committee discussed the possibility of having a flipped session at SMT next year, and we're going to try and work that into our proposal for a session on flipped pedagogy.

Branch added a new beta "groups" feature, and I got an invite. I created a #musictheoryped group that we can play around with. Please join if you're interested. (And depending how well it works out, I can forward impressions and feedback about the service to the SMT Networking Committee.)

branch.com

Any of you using #sbar in your average-based classes? I'm not in a place where wholesale adoption of #sbar pedagogy is feasible, so I've been trying to let the spirit permeate my classes through frequent evaluations. I've always had quizzes, but I'm now aiming more explicitly for mastery of a particular set of—very broadly defined— criteria. So I allow students multiple attempts and drop the lowest one.

What I like about this approach is that it does encourage students to learn from their mistakes and they should get better.

I dislike (at least) two things about the way I'm using quizzes: (1) I'm not sure that students really get the premise. Every quiz still seems equal to them. They aren't in the #sbar mindset, and maybe this is because I'm hedging in my own pedagogy. (2) My criteria have to be defined broadly because lesson plans are used across sections amongst a number of teachers. I think this is less than ideal because it keeps students from honing in on what they need to work on.

Hey all, check out the website for FlipCamp Music Theory:

flipcampmt.wordpress.com

Registration is now open (and free).

(Apologies for posting twice.)