Sci-Flipper 19 Education Expo:
Interdisciplinary Professional Learning Community for Teacher
The Sci-Flipper (SF) 19 Education Expo, predecessor of the Bio-Flipper Cafe Co-prep, was started initially in February 2014 by Taichung Guangrong High School’s biology teacher, Chung Changhung. Winning many national awards, Chung makes learning come alive and represented Taiwan in the US Flipped Classroom Conference.
The co-prep became popular with many teachers, once having more than 400 participants at one go. Other than science, it has expanded to include languages and social sciences and other subjects in the elementary to senior high school level. Hence, the learning community was renamed Sci-Flipper.
The co-prep became popular with many teachers, once having more than 400 participants at one go. Other than science, it has expanded to include languages and social sciences and other subjects in the elementary to senior high school level. Hence, the learning community was renamed Sci-Flipper.
Educators are equipped with skills to be learner-centred, problem-oriented and to teach with a macro view. Board games were introduced since the eighth run, subsequently a small-scale SF Farm branched out of the group, as a monthly co-prep to refine the teaching of the Sciences. The SF is a broad-based program on interdisciplinary subjects for teachers taking place every two months.
From SF12 onwards, the co-prep was held outside of Taichung and involved joint planning from different members. After a six-month conceptualization, SF12 was held in Hsinchu, as with SF14, and SF16, SF17 and SF18 were held in Tainan, Kaohsiung and Changhua. Themes are varied through each run of the program, hence teachers across subjects can be inspired differently through the interdisciplinary exchange of dialogues within. The skills and experiences gained can be applied in the teachers’ classrooms immediately. The SF family believes that the key to changing the world begins with the children, hence attempting to better education for young minds.
On 22 April 2017 at the Fanghe High School in Taipei, the SF19 Education Expo was held for 180 teachers, with the theme ‘Attack on Titan’, drawing inspiration from the sci-fi movie to stand on the shoulders of giants to work towards bettering education for the future!
The 19th run of the event featured a collaborative community of teachers from all around Taiwan, taking charge of their own learning in new classroom methods, aimed at sharing and achieving new pedagogical outcomes.
The 19th run of the event featured a collaborative community of teachers from all around Taiwan, taking charge of their own learning in new classroom methods, aimed at sharing and achieving new pedagogical outcomes.
Professor Benson Yeh of the National Taiwan University gave a lecture on the discovery of the future of education in Taiwan. The Flip Education Expo was then held, making use of the UIDEA model (Your idea, my idea!) for class preparation, in engaging forty-four Titan teachers to share on their pedagogical and classroom tools and experiences at the SF19. Some of the sharing included methods such as board games, apps and popular science readings, providing useful information for junior teachers.
Professor Yeh mentioned that it is important to maintain students’ curiosities in learning by not diminishing their motivations and desires to ask questions. He said that learning ought to be carried out by students. By “starving” the students of knowledge, instead of “stuffing” them with knowledge, they would become self-starters in interacting with the real world to seek knowledge, thereby letting learning come alive.
The sharing on the story of a dollar coin drew many responses from the audience as well. Every educator can be likened to the coin, being new and ambitious, after becoming polished with skills from teachers’ training college. However, the coins are easily scratched through gentle scrapes. To become golden coins, they need to undergo burning before a splash of water. There are two sides to a coin, just as there are two sides to being an educator, which are to achieve results and to acquire theoretical knowledge on teaching.
A junior teacher said he feels encouraged to be surrounded by so many Titan teachers and fellow junior teachers who are working towards the same goal of bettering education. An experienced teacher mentioned that while he has thought of giving up on innovative teaching methods, he is inspired when immersed in a community such as the SF.
The SF family helps senior teachers entrenched in traditional teaching methods to achieve breakthroughs with new pedagogies knowing they are not alone in making a difference, at the same time, inspiring junior teachers too.
The SF community is the most dynamic major teacher training community in Taiwan, hence he sees the hope of education reform here at the SF community!
Website | Facebook | Opening film
The SF community is the most dynamic major teacher training community in Taiwan, hence he sees the hope of education reform here at the SF community!
Website | Facebook | Opening film
