Establishing a computational biology flipped classroom

PLoS Comput Biol. 2019 May 23;15(5):e1006764. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006764. eCollection 2019 May.

Abstract

In a flipped classroom, students complete automated modules to replace a traditional lecture, allowing the time devoted for the lecture to be devoted to constructive tasks reinforcing student knowledge. Yet although the flipped classroom offers a compelling approach for fostering a constructivist, student-centric learning environment, research on the efficacy of flipped classes has been mixed. For that matter, is it possible to successfully flip a classroom in an advanced, heavily specialized course like a bioinformatics algorithms course? Over the past several years, the author has implemented a flipped version of such a course and will discuss some of the successes and pitfalls encountered.

MeSH terms

  • Computational Biology / education*
  • Computational Biology / methods
  • Curriculum
  • Education / methods
  • Humans
  • Learning
  • Problem-Based Learning / methods*
  • Students

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.