Examining Student Perceptions of Engagement and Learning in a Flipped Introductory Agricultural Mechanics Course

Abstract

Active, student-centered approaches to teaching and learning in university classrooms have been given greater focus in recent years. Consequently, the use of flipped classrooms in American universities has proliferated considerably. Evidence suggests that flipped classrooms have been successfully employed in agricultural coursework, such as university-level agricultural mechanics courses. Theoretically underpinned by Murillo-Zamorano et al.’s (2019) Flipped Classroom in Higher Education model, the purpose of our study was to determine students’ perceptions of their engagement and learning in a flipped introductory-level agricultural mechanics course taught at Illinois State University. We used a valid and reliable electronic instrument to collect data from 61 undergraduate students over the course of four semesters. Our findings indicate that using a flipped classroom design to deliver an introductory-level agricultural mechanics course is a worthy endeavor that can positively impact students’ course experience. We are seeing similar results each semester, which suggest that our students prefer this teaching style over a traditional lecture style. The lead author intends to continue teaching the AGR 130: Introduction to Agricultural Engineering Technology course with a flipped classroom design for the foreseeable future. Our recommendations include: (1) instructors of introductory-level agricultural mechanics courses consider using a flipped classroom approach and (2) replicating our study to further examine this topic.