ABSTRACT
Group space itself has a structure—a beginning, a middle, and an end—that, if planned carefully, can greatly improve student learning. The opening minutes of a class are crucial for setting the stage for the group meeting both in terms of the tone that the people set for the meeting and in terms of coming to an understanding of what was learned in the individual space. The closing few minutes of class are useful for activities that summarize, synthesize, and solicit questions. Flipped learning design principles for group space activities apply no matter what the modality of the course. However, in many situations lecture might still be unnecessary, and through small-group discussions or peer instruction students can help each other in ways that instructors cannot. There could be learning objectives that take significant time and space to master, more time and space than are available in a class meeting.
