(A) In this course flipped classroom theory is being applied. Flipped classroom is characterized by the fact that lecture-style explanations are watched online, and during face-to-face time theory is applied in active learning exercises. This is ‘flipped’ in the sense that more traditional courses follow a format where lectures are provided face-to-face, and homework is given to process the theory; flipped classroom theory inverses this by providing the lectures as videos watched at home, and doing the ‘homework’ during class. Another important characteristic is the fact that the online lectures happen before face-to-face time. This course applies both of these principle; we watch weblectures beforehand and apply the theory during tutorial groups.

I have yet to form an opinion on the blended learning approach taken in this course. As described in the weblecture, there are both numerous advantages and disadvantages. So far, I quite like the control that I have over pacing (being able to watch on 2x speed, pausing, rewinding), which was also one of the advantages listed in the weblecture. Another very positive aspect for me personally is that I don’t have to travel two hours back and forth to university for a single lecture; being able to watch it at my own time, and having that other time available is very nice. I did not experience any of the disadvantages, I think. I have not experienced the course so far to have been more time consuming; it has not been a significantly greater tax on my self-regulating abilities; I don’t see peers more or less due to the application of flipped classroom; I have not experienced cognitive overload; the line between home and university is already very blurred, and I do not really have an issue with that either; I am a programmer so I don’t really do technical difficulties. Having said all this, I think it is to early in the course for me to form a clear picture on which advantages and disadvantages are applicable in this case, and how much they weigh for me personally. Ask me again at the end.

(B) I think large parts of my previous anwser could be an anwser to this question as well. But since I cannot leave this question blank I’ll elaborate a bit more. Regarding SLR: I think generally, self-regulation is not a big issue for me. Just do what has to be done. I think a bigger challenge for me is that I generally pick up more from face-to-face instruction than from video, though I cannot explain exactly why that is. I am also not a fan of anything the whole active learning thing (though I see why it can be very valuable). Because from my experience, in the theory everything is neatly defined and structured and makes sense and can be explained. In practice it always turns into a muddy blurry noisy mess where the theory cannot be easily applied or there’s a bunch of external factors that you cannot control, leading me to rarely finish an assignment that I am actually happy with. But maybe that has more to do with my perfectionism.