The Journal Recently ran an article on backward or inverted teaching where the instructor has the students watch a teaching video as homework and then in class they go over problems and the teacher does more one-on-one work with students.
As the students watch the 30 minute instructional video, who is checking to see if they are comprehending the video? Are there self-checks built into the video? What happens if a student gets lost at the beginning? What happens if a student does not understand a major concept? The students have to wait until the class for which they will have to do homework.
Such backward teaching seems to go against the current formative assessment approach of constantly monitoring students and helping them to overcome the learning gaps that appear as the lesson develops. According to formative assessment, students should be helped with their learning gap as soon as it appears; the students are immediately diagnosed and given appropriate feedback to overcome the gap. The longer the time between the gap and the feedback, the less effective the feedback.
I think that backward teaching can be done well if appropriate formative assessments are built in just after new concepts or ways of thinking are introduced in the video. Probably a video teacher does not want to go more than ten minutes without doing a check-in on the students. The teacher might want to go over commonly made mistakes as he/she presents the lesson. When students know they are “right”, they feel more confident about their learning. When they begin to have doubts, they learn less.
How do you use teaching videos/clips in your class?
My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students, is available through Eye on Education.
Also, my book, Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, is available through Eye on Education.
Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle 
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