Do Flipped Classrooms Work?

 from Marshall Memo

Does Flipped Teaching Work?

In this Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard article, Patricia Roehling and Carrie

Bredow report on their meta-analysis of 317 published studies of flipped learning, a classroom

strategy whose popularity surged during the pandemic, especially in colleges and secondary

schools. Here’s what is involved in a flipped class:

- Students view an online lecture or presentation to prepare for class.

- In-person time is devoted to discussions, peer teaching, presentations, projects, problem

solving, computations, and group activities.

- Thus the traditional sequence is flipped, with passive learning experiences happening at

home, conducted at students’ convenience and repeated as often as necessary, and class

time devoted to active learning experiences.

- Flipped learning is based on constructivist theory, with classroom time helping students

build on pre-existing cognitive frameworks and construct their own knowledge.

7Marshall Memo 906 October 11, 2021

- Flipping aims to lighten students’ cognitive load during class, helping them to shift

knowledge and skills to long-term memory and develop their interpersonal skills.

The meta-analysis focused on college classes, comparing flipped learning with traditional

lecture-based instruction on several dimensions. The major findings:

• Students in flipped classrooms performed better in most subject areas. Outcomes were

best with foundational knowledge, professional and academic skills, and (to a lesser degree)

higher-order thinking.

• Students in flipped classes did better in all non-cognitive areas, including

interpersonal skills, engaging with the content, and developing metacognitive abilities such as

time management and learning strategies.

• Flipped learning was most effective in skill-based courses, including technology,

health-science, and languages. This seemed to be because class time could be spent practicing

and mastering skills with peers and the instructor. Mathematics and engineering classes

showed the smallest gains with flipped learning.

• Flipped learning had the widest advantage over traditional teaching in countries in the

Middle East and Asia where teachers implementing the new practices were making the most

radical departure from the way most teaching was being conducted.

• Instructors who gave pre-class quizzes to make sure students were doing their

homework registered lower academic gains than those who didn’t. Roehling and Bredow

speculate that this was because students focused on doing well on the quizzes rather than

understanding the material. This points to the wisdom of giving in-class rather than before-

class quizzes, say the researchers.

• Instructors who combined flipped and traditional classes tended to get better results

than those who were fully flipped. This was probably because a mixed approach lightened the

workload (designing a flipped class takes extra time) and reserved traditional lecture classes for

where they were most appropriate: introducing new, complex, and foundational knowledge and

skills.

• Student satisfaction with flipped courses was slightly higher than for traditional

teaching.

“Flipped Learning: What Is It, and When Is It Effective?” by Patricia Roehling and Carrie

Bredow in Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard, September 28, 2021