“You flip your intro class?”
This is a common question the first author gets regarding her Introductory Psychology course. Flipped classrooms involve students learning course content prior to class through assigned readings or recorded lectures (Barrett, 2012). Then, during class time, rather than lecturing, students engage in activities to connect with the material further.
Flipped classrooms can have benefits, including promoting active learning and providing opportunities to cultivate collaborative skills (Bredow et al., 2021). Although flipping classrooms is not a novel idea, we often get raised eyebrows when we mention the number of students (250+) in our flipped course.
Such a response is understandable: Flipped classrooms require instructor facilitation, engagement, and feedback. Instructors may shy away from flipping a large class due to logistics alone. With only one instructor and 250 students, questions regarding practicality surface: How do you ensure that many students come prepared and stay engaged? How do you give feedback? We aim to provide some practical tips to maximize benefits and minimize stress for flipping a large class.
Tip #1: Recruit Peer Mentors
Peer mentors are upper-level students recruited to assist with classroom activities and student learning. Though a flipped large course can be achieved without peer mentors, their inclusion enriches in-class activities. The peer mentors and the instructor meet once a week to review upcoming course material and in-class activities. During class, they facilitate activities and demonstrations, including helping students find teammates, providing guidance and feedback, and assisting with classroom management such as distributing handouts.
Tip #2: Ensure Students Come Prepared
Flipped classrooms can thrive when students come prepared. To foster preparation, clearly communicate the course structure and model it on the first day. However, merely assigning readings may not be enough–there needs to be some accountability for learning ahead of class (Bredow et al., 2021). Thus, our students complete weekly quizzes to prepare for flipped classes.
Our quiz format is structured to foster success for the upcoming in-class activities. Students first review an outline with the explicit instructions to take notes on the content embedded in the quiz—they will bring those notes to class. Next, students indicate the extent that they are familiar with each of the terms from the outline, priming students to recognize terms in preparation for the forthcoming lecture. Then, students review the course content in the form of a recorded lecture or reading. Following, students reflect on the content and answer a series of multiple choice questions. At the end of the quiz, we remind students to bring notes with them to class as we will have in-class activities based on the content. If they need to prepare for any in-class activity beyond the quiz, we also tell them what to bring or do in preparation.
Tip #3: Create Structure in the Flipped Class
Students come to class prepared to dive deep into the content for active learning. We have found that consistency is key for a flipped class. For instance, our class always begins the same way. Students break out into teams of three to four people to complete their first activity, Two Truths and a Lie (adapted from Chew, 2025), in which they determine which of three presented statements is false. During this activity, peer mentors and the instructor circulate the room, engaging students in conversation (“Why did you choose your response?”), clarifying content, providing feedback, and stamping students’ papers to verify completion. Then, the class reviews the answers as a whole group.
Next, the instructor proceeds to alternate micro-lectures and collaborative, small-group activities such as drawing conclusions from scientific studies, discussion regarding how content applies to their career of interest, and so on. [Project Assessment (pass.apa.org) is an excellent place to find activities.] Additionally, peer mentors and the instructor circulate during activities to offer feedback to the small groups. Then, the class reconvenes for a whole group discussion with the instructor summarizing key points and providing formative feedback. Class ends with students submitting their activity sheet and brief reflection of the content. Because students received feedback on their work during class, the instructor only grades activity sheets for completion.
Karen Z. Naufel, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. Naufel is deeply committed to teaching and enjoys working with students across the curriculum, from introductory psychology to senior capstone courses. At the graduate level, she teaches research design and seminar in teaching psychology. She is also passionate about extending psychology beyond the classroom, engaging in community outreach such as elementary school STEM fairs. Her excellence in teaching has been recognized nationally. She is the recipient of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s 2024 Presidential Citation and the 2026 American Psychological Foundation Charles L. Brewer Award.
Elizabeth Powell is a senior psychology major at Georgia Southern University. After graduation, Elizabeth will be attending graduate school at Georgia Southern University's school psychology program, where she plans to further her education in assessments and interventions to help support and advocate for every student's right and ability to learn.
Myan Richardson is a senior at Georgia Southern University majoring in psychology with a minor in addiction recovery counseling. She plans to pursue graduate studies in clinical psychology, focusing on forensic psychology and rehabilitation as she begins to build a career centered on supporting individuals and communities.
Madelyn Wiehl is a senior psychology student at Georgia Southern University. After graduation, she plans to continue her education and work in the field of applied behavior analysis as a registered behavior technician.