Introducing the flip: A mixed method approach to gauge student and staff perceptions on the introduction of flipped pedagogy in pre-clinical medical education

Abstract

Flipped learning has become a popular blended learning approach in higher education and is now being adopted in medical schools across Australia and internationally. There are a number of principal educational justifications for the introduction of this approach, primarily, that it fosters deeper student learning through active engagement in the classroom. As a pedagogical intervention however, what do the various stakeholders think about its introduction? This paper explores reactions to implementation of a flipped learning approach to pre-clinical medical education in a regional Victorian medical course, via a mixed method approach. A range of quantitative and qualitative data was collected concerning the implementation, including a student survey, student focus groups, a staff survey for both academic and professional staff members involved in the implementation of the approach, and an independent student-driven social media questionnaire conducted in the second year post implementation survey. These data provide critical feedback for refinement of the flipped learning approach, including more robust student and faculty development and support during implementation of this pedagogy. Taken together, our results provide a unique perspective of the introduction of the flipped approach through different stakeholder lenses, and over time.

To Flip or Not to Flip? A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Flipped Learning in Higher Education

“…Given the time and skill required to design effective flipped class sessions (McLaughlin et al, 2016), partially flipped courses may be easier to implement successfully, particularly during early iterations. Partially flipped courses may also afford instructors more flexibility to flip content that lends itself best to the model, while saving more complex topics for in-class instruction (Lo et al, 2017; Simmons et al, 2020).…”

“…Although it may be that the tested moderators truly account for more variability in academic outcomes than in the other two domains, we had substantially more power to detect moderation effects in the former, highlighting the need for additional, well-controlled studies of flipped learning effects on nonacademic outcomes. It also would be beneficial to examine other potentially important sources of variability in learning outcomes, including both student and instructor attributes (e.g., baseline meta-cognitive skills; previous experience with flipped pedagogies; instructor training and resources; McLaughlin et al, 2016; Simmons et al, 2020).…”

Enhancing the effectiveness of flipped classroom in health science education: a state-of-the-art review

“…Self-regulated learning skills (1a) -Encourage class attendance and participation -Provide possibilities to support the development of self-regulated learning skills, such as prompts or feedback -Provide the students structure by organizing the learning process into stages and by giving a guideline -Use a detailed rubric to show students their progress and how they can develop -Give a small proportion of the course grade to formative assessment to show that you value it -Manage the working load of students by making homework optional -Be adaptive and provide just-in-time interventions [8, 10, 13, 34, 36, 43, 47, 48, 52, 64, 68, 69 , 74, 79, 84, 96, 98] Learning attitude (1c) -Create a performance-approach environment -Make videos more engaging by creating an interactive authentic environment -Consider the preview of learning materials, interaction with peers, teacher facilitation, and classroom participation -Make the curriculum relevant for students -Make use of simulation [20,34,48,51,80,86] Implementation (2) -Make use of existing materials -Pay as much attention to grades as to student perception -Realize that different learning and teaching approaches are needed in the flipped classroom -Address expectations -Integrate active learning methodologies into a large number of subjects -Use the flipped classroom at least 3 weeks -Implement the flipped classroom gradually -Provide sufficient support [8,10,14,34,52,56,57,64,75,80,93,96] Task characteristics (3) -Include in-and out-of-class problem solving activities [90] Out-of-class activities (4) -Instruct students to work together with peers -Structure the goals, learning methods, and assessment -Make use of e-learning, quizzes, learning management systems, gamification, digital workbooks, online micro lectures, and mobile-based learning -Let students produce their own materials -Online materials should always be available -Take care adding text information on videos -Include authentic assessment to assess the acquired knowledge [2,11,36,38,39,41,45,46,<...>…”

A spaced-repetition approach to enhance medical student learning and engagement in medical pharmacology

“…Thus, there is significant interest in educational reforms to improve student outcomes in medical pharmacology. However, it is notable that most approaches have been top-down in nature, focusing on systematic changes in curriculum, teaching and staffing [ 4 ]. Hence, there is a gap in the understanding of the approaches and techniques used by medical students to study medical pharmacology, which could form the basis for targeted interventions to improve learning [ 5 – 8 ].…”