Title Flipped Classroom Methods Are Not Associated With Better Academic Performance
Clinical Question Among graduate students, do positive perceptions of a flipped classroom strategy produce stronger academic performance?
Clinical Bottom Line For graduate students, favorable perceptions of flipped classroom methods were not associated with enhanced academic performance in a course, but flipped classroom methods may stimulate higher student satisfaction due to active learning and perceptions of higher quality education.
Best Evidence  
PubMed ID Author / Year Patient Group Study type
(level of evidence)
25884508Moraros/201567 Masters-level graduate student in an introductory epidemiology classProspective Cohort Study
Key resultsThe investigators analyzed four sets of data: student socio-demographic characteristics, students’ final grades, students’ overall course satisfaction, and effectiveness ratings of the Flipped Classroom at three points during the course. Out of the 67 Master’s level graduate students, 80% thought the flipped method was somewhat effective or very effective (M=4.1/5.0). As compared to the North American students, significantly more international students (100% vs. 67%) thought that the flipped method was significantly more effective than traditional lecture (X2=11.35, p>0.05). Students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the Flipped Classroom were not significantly associated with their academic performance in the course as measured by their final grades. Students’ ratings of the course using the Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) were significantly higher than the ratings for students in previous years of the course prior to the implementation of the Flipped Classroom (p = 0.003). Students who preferred the Flipped Classroom technique also rated the overall course higher than students who did not prefer Flipped Classroom methods.
Evidence Search ("Educational Measurement"[Mesh] AND "Education, Graduate"[Mesh]) AND "Epidemiology"[Mesh]
Comments on
The Evidence
Validity: Sixty-seven of the 76 students in the course participated in this study, which suggests that the results are likely to be reflective of the entire class. Half of the students were 25 years old or younger, the rest were 26 years old or older, so they were generally representative of graduate school classes in age, and both age groups felt very comfortable with computers. The instructor took 10 bi-monthly consultation sessions to familiarize himself with the relevant literature, which suggests that he had comprehension of the flipped classroom technique. The class schedule was 13 weeks long and met once a week for 3 hours, indicating that students had sufficient exposure to the Flipped Classroom to appraise its merits. The flipped method included both pre-class and in-class activities like online videos/textbook readings, quizzes, student presentations, and practice problem sets. There was one video for every in-class session that lasted about 60 minutes and an assigned textbook reading to go along with it. The instructors presented a 20-30 min lecture to provide clear understanding of the subjects and assigned the groups to perform presentations or problem sets. In the end there were also peer evaluations taken for the presentations. Students’ perceptions were collected with a standardized instrument, the SEEQ, which often has been used in other studies of teaching / learning methods, thus allowing comparisons between studies. Overall, whether or not students’ perceptions of a teaching / learning method influence their actual course performance is a relevant question of interest. Perspective: This study was limited, and the results may be difficult to generalize. There was no control group to allow direct comparisons between the flipped method and a different teaching/learning method. The course data for the effectiveness rating was collected via SEEQ evaluations for pre- and post-flipped classroom implementation. The teaching methods/materials used for this study was specifically made for the students that were willing to participate within the course.
Applicability The study conducted a limited search for the applicability of a flipped method of teaching that observed the satisfaction, quality, and academic performance of the students. The findings of the study may provide encouragement to other graduate level courses that desire to promote a better student experience and desire to engage in a more active learning and hands-on setting.
Specialty (Interprofessional CATs)
Keywords Flipped classroom, education, graduate, problem-based learning/methods, program evaluation, epidemiology/education, computer-assisted instruction.
ID# 3060
Date of submission 04/28/2016
E-mail Pardod@livemail.uthscsa.edu
Author David Pardo
Co-author(s)
Co-author(s) e-mail
Faculty mentor William Hendricson
Faculty mentor e-mail Hendricson@uthscsa.edu
   
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?)
None available
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Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
(FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs)
None available