Flipped classroom slides: record this, keep that for class

By Ekrem Çetinkaya · Published 15 September 2026

A flipped classroom needs two decks, not one deck shown twice. The pre-class deck carries the definitions, the derivations and the worked example, in short recorded segments students watch on their own. The in-class deck is mostly prompts: a problem, a question to vote on, a case to argue about, a summary slide at the end. If the in-class deck repeats the recorded one, students learn that preparing was pointless.

This guide covers the split, what each deck looks like, the accountability problem, and how to build the pair without writing everything twice.

The split

The pre-class material is allowed to be denser than a live lecture, because pausing and rewinding are free. The in-class deck is much sparser than a normal lecture deck — often a dozen slides for an hour.

The pre-class deck

Write it as a lecture that answers "what is this and how does it work", and cut everything that depends on the room. Each segment is one idea, ten to fifteen minutes, with the worked example at the end. See recording a lecture for the mechanics.

Two additions that raise completion rates:

• A one-line statement of what the student should be able to do afterwards, on the first slide of every segment.
• Two or three questions at the end, which double as the accountability check below.

The in-class deck

Every slide answers "what are they doing now". A working shape for a one-hour session:

1. A two-minute recap slide — the three things from the recording, as bullets, read aloud once. Not a re-lecture; a handhold for the student who watched it four days ago.
2. A diagnostic question on the hardest idea, answered by show of hands or a clicker. The distribution of answers tells you which half of the plan to use.
3. Problems, one slide each, with space to work. Two harder problems beat six easy ones.
4. A misconception slide — the wrong answer the recording predictably produces, named and dismantled.
5. A summary slide, and what to prepare next.

The active learning guide has the formats — think-pair-share, peer instruction, the one-minute paper — that fill the middle of that shape.

The students who did not prepare

There will be some, every week, and the two failure modes are pretending otherwise and re-teaching the recording for them.

What works: a low-stakes check that counts for a very small part of the grade — the two questions at the end of the recording, due before class. Marks for completion, not for correctness. It costs a student five minutes and moves preparation from "optional" to "routine". Keep a copy of the recap slide generous enough that an unprepared student can still participate in the problems, and let the natural cost of being unprepared do the rest.

Do not write everything twice

The two decks come from the same source material, so build them together:

• Keep one folder per week with the readings, the recorded deck and the in-class deck side by side — the layout in organising course materials.
• Write both in Markdown so the recap slide is a copy of three bullets from the recorded deck, not a retyped paraphrase.
• Keep the problems in a third file you can draw from year to year; the problems outlive the slides.

Flipping a course is usually done one week at a time — the first year, flip the three topics students struggle with most, and keep the rest as ordinary lectures.

In Lecture Studio

Lecture Studio writes a deck, speaker notes, questions and an instructor guide from the readings you attach, which maps onto the flipped split: the deck and the notes become the recording, the questions become the accountability check and the in-class prompts. It is a Mac app, free during the beta, and needs an Oberik project key.

FAQ

What goes on flipped classroom slides?

The pre-class deck carries definitions, a procedure and a worked example. The in-class deck carries problems and questions, roughly one prompt per slide.

How long should pre-class videos be?

Ten to fifteen minutes per segment, twenty to forty minutes for a week's preparation. Longer segments get abandoned partway.

What do you do in a flipped classroom if students did not watch?

Keep a short recap slide, run a small completion-graded check before class, and do not re-lecture the recording — the session's value is the work students cannot do alone.

Is a flipped classroom just watching videos at home?

No. The recording replaces the explanation; the session becomes problems, questions and feedback. Without the second half it is a lecture that moved.