We’re excited to announce the first presenter in our Blended Learning Lunch Vox on August 26th 12-1pm: Joe Hope.
When it comes to blended learning, Joe wrote the book – or at least, the online free course. Joe Hope is a professor at the Research School of Physics who conducts research into quantum computers and sensors.
Joe Hope
“Why assemble students and teachers in the same room at the same time if the majority of the time is not going to be used in dialogue?”
Joe Hope
In 2014, Joe decided to stop lecturing. Frustrated with the inefficiency of a lecture, he began pioneering a “flipped classroom” approach at ANU. Instead of delivering content to students for the first time, he asked them to come prepared. They complete online material in advance, maximising students’ on-campus time in the form of interactive workshops. It enabled him to better scaffold their learning, helping them move from familiarity to applying the concepts in new contexts. It was an unequivocal success: his course saw increased student engagement, increased SELT (student engagement survey) results, and improved marks and grades.
“Their grades have gone up over an entire grade. So, about 12% on average, the entire class has gone up.”
Joe Hope
In recognition of his innovation, Joe won two teaching awards in 2015: the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence, and the prestigious national Australian Award for University Teaching – Award for Teaching Excellence. He was promoted to the role of Associate Director (Education), which empowered him to support a gradual redesign of the entire Physics program at ANU. Continuing to empower others, Joe then founded the MeriSTEM project to provide resources for secondary STEM teachers who want to flip their own teaching.
Want to know more about how Joe overcame barriers to successfully introduce a ‘flipped’ approach to an entire School?
In an upcoming Lunch Vox, Joe discusses what drove him to this approach, as well as the diversity of his approach and its wide ranging benefits.
Register for the Blended Learning Lunch Vox here.
Sue Sharpe is an Education Designer at the Centre for Learning and Teaching
