Teaching hard times: using the flipped classroom to examine social determinants of health in community settings.

PUBH7620 Social Perspectives is a core course in the University of Queensland School of Population Health Masters of Population Health programme. The course includes a major focus on social inequalities and the social determinants of health. However, many students are challenged in understanding health inequalities and relative poverty in resource rich settings such as Australia. In response to the need for more active and applied learning PUBH7620 moved to a 'flipped classroom' style of teaching in 2013. Flipping the classroom involves students gaining exposure to new material outside the classroom via blended learning and coming together in class time to explore content through active learning and engagement strategies. We outline the process of flipping the classroom to facilitate learning about the social determinants of health in community settings. A facilitated walk 'to examine the social determinants of health around us' was undertaken as a fieldwork activity. Preparation involved a pre-recorded session and key readings. Students undertook a directed community walk and visited a number of community agencies. Students were invited to use their senses in their learning and to take visual images in the form of photographs and post them onto a class flickr site, where they were invited to comment on each other's images. Students wrote reflective journals on the experience as part of their assessment. We will describe the evaluation of this fieldwork activity and illustrate how the flipped classroom can be effectively utilized to develop and facilitate community based contextual learning and illuminate the sociological imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]