FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM COMPARED TO THE LECTURE METHOD: Students’ and Lecturer’s perceptions

1. FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM COMPARED TO THE LECTURE METHOD: Students’ and Lecturer’s perceptions By Eunice Ivala, Anton Thiart & Daniela Gachago Cape Peninsula University of Technology

2. The Rationale of the Research • Most HEIs globally continue to use the Lecture method in delivering instruction (Bates & Galloway 2012)

3. The Lecture method from Flickr.com

6. Research shows that the Lecture method is relatively ineffective in promoting deep learning (Johnson & Smith 1991; Bates & Galloway 2012 • Deep Learning…. • involves the critical analysis of new ideas, linking them to already known concepts and principles, and leads to understanding and long-term retention of concepts so that they can be used for problem solving in unfamiliar contexts. • promotes understanding and application for life

7. The lecture method is said to often promote surface learning • Surface Learning…. • the tacit acceptance of information and memorization as isolated and unlinked facts • It leads to superficial retention of material for examinations and does not promote understanding or long-term retention of knowledge and information

8. The lecture method promotes surface learning • Hence students learn at the lower levels of blooms taxonomy • Knowledge • Comprehension

9. Engineering education Most classrooms rely on the LECTURE METHOD (Nguyen& Toto 2009)

10. Engineering education HEIs need to use pedagogical approaches which promote deep student learning

11. One such an approach is the …. From Flickr.com

12. FLIPPED OR INVERTED CLASSROOM • Lecturer instructs lesson at home

14. In class activities…. • Students work in groups • Deep understanding of concepts, application and connection to content is made • Students receive support as needed from the instructor and peers

15. The Flipped classroom Method from Flickr.com

16. Pedagogical benefits of the FLIPPED CLASSROOM Students Teachers

17. Pedagogical benefits of the FLIPPED CLASSROOM From Flickr. Com

18. CRITICISMs OF THE flipped classroom method • Assuming that every student has access to technology and internet connectivity • Students are expected to engage with the online materials before class-highly unlikely without an enforcement mechanism • Developing the materials is labour intensive and time consuming • However, the method shows potential for making university classrooms more interactive, inclusive and effective (Talbert 2012) and can be applied in many disciplines (Gardner 2012).

19. With this versatility in application, there are few research studies that specifically investigate the ICM (Strayer 2007), particularly in Africa. This paper presents students’ and their lecturer’s perceptions of benefits and challenges of the ICM of delivering instruction compared to the lecture method in a third-year hydrology course in the Civil Engineering field at CPUT, South Africa.

20. Conceptual framework • Understanding of the piloting of the flipped classroom was informed by • A developmental perspective of cooperative learning-which is founded in a constructivist epistemology • Although cooperative learning has its premise in constructivist principles, in implementing cooperative learning the teacher maintains complete control of the class

21. Conceptual framework • In piloting the flipped classroom method in the hydrology course…. • A developmental perspective of cooperative learning which was largely teacher-centred (Lee 1997) (students did not provide input into what the class does and how it does it) seemed to have been employed. The lecturer decided to change the method of delivering instruction from lectures to the ICM, but asked students to allow him to test his ideas. He decided on and designed materials to be studied out of class, platforms for accessing the materials and what students will do in class.

22. Conceptual framework The fundamental assumptions of the developmental perspective on cooperative learning are that interaction among students around appropriate tasks increases their mastery of critical concepts.

23. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLIPPED CLASSROOM • The hydrology course is a third-year module within Water Engineering 3 and contributes 50% of marks towards the subject. • Water Engineering 3 contributes towards attainment of a National Diploma in Civil Engineering, and is a compulsory one-semester course taught in the second semester, with two one-hour lectures per week.

24. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLIPPED CLASSROOM • The course aims to impart the principles and practices of engineering hydrology using examples and calculations. • The lecture method is used to teach course content, supplemented by student interaction with information through homework, lab sessions, projects and discussions out of class • The course was co-taught by two lecturers

25. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLIPPED CLASSROOM • The ICM was not implemented in delivery of the entire course, but for selected topics in the course: • introduction to hydrology; • meteorological data; • evaporation and transpiration; and • infiltration and percolation.

26. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLIPPED CLASSROOM • Provided basic materials on course content to students via online videos (using a shared drive on the institutional intranet for long videos and Dropbox for short videos), • Short documents were put on the course website and • continuously encouraging the students to engage with the materials through a closed Facebook group • Links from Dropbox were also posted in the Facebook group

27. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLIPPED CLASSROOM • Students were supposed to engage with the online materials at home in preparation for class • In class students worked in groups with more complex questions, with the lecturer assisting and guiding as needed and students helping each other.

28. Methodology • Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used, to ensure that limitations of one type of data were balanced by the strengths of another • Participants in this study were the 50 students enrolled in the course and their lecturer

29. Methodology • Data consisted of recordings of an in-depth interview with the lecturer, and a workshop facilitated by the lecturer to introduce the ICM to 11 lecturers from various disciplines in the university • Four open-ended questions included in the students’ survey questionnaire elicited students’ perceptions of ICM’s capability to facilitate active learning, group work and the time students’ took to get used to the ICM.

30. Methodology • Quantitative data were gathered through a survey questionnaire distributed to the 50 students enrolled in this course • The survey questionnaire included both open- and closed-ended questions

31. Methodology • Eight closed questions compared students’ perceptions of the ICM and traditional lecture method in terms of classroom attendance, level of enjoyment, understanding of problems, concentration in class, regular preparation for lecturers, active involvement during class, enough time for study, levels of preparation for exams, finding answers to homework during the learning process, and the mode of delivery students preferred for the rest of the semester

32. Methodology • Quantitative data were analyzed using a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) • Means and standard deviations were calculated to determine the central tendency (typical score) and variability (spread) of interval data • A paired sample one-tailed t-test was executed to test for significant differences in perceptions of ICM and the lecture method

33. Methodology • Qualitative data analysis was done inductively, via constant comparative method of analyzing data • Open coding, "the process of breaking down, examining, comparing, conceptualizing, and categorizing data" (Strauss & Corbin 1990: 61) was used to identify themes and insights emerging from the data, and insights which would help understand the problem under investigation

34. Methodology • Themes emerging from the data were: • Students’ perceptions of the benefits of ICM compared to the lecture method; • The lecturer’s perceptions of benefits of ICM compared to the lecture method; and • Challenges encountered in implementation of ICM and critical conditions for ensuring successful implementation.

35. Results and discussion • 1. Students’ perceptions on the benefits of ICM for curriculum delivery compared to the lecture method • Analysis of closed questions was done by using a five Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree with a statement) to 5 (strongly disagree with the statement)

37. Results on Table 1 show that…. • Students’ classroom attendance and concentration in class were better for the lecture method than the ICM • Students’ level of enjoyment, understanding of problems, regular preparation for lectures, level of preparation for exams, and finding answers to homework during the learning process were rated more favourably for the ICM than the lecture method • On the aspects of students having enough time for study, active involvement in class and preferred mode of delivery for the rest of the semester, there was no significant difference between the ratings for the two methods

38. Results on Table 1 show that…. • However, aspects on students having enough time for study and active involvement during class were rated nominally better for the ICM than the lecture method • The converse was true for preferred mode of delivery for the rest of the semester (Table 1)

39. Quantitative data does not provide reasons for or motives behind rating scores However, reasons are important to make informed decisions regarding implementation and effectiveness of the ICM. Therefore a qualitative survey was done to probe the motivation behind the scores.

40. Analysis from the qualitative data showed that most students (35 out of 50) liked the ICM method more than the traditional lecture method. • Students gave varied reasons for liking the methods. SOME ARE… • because it allowed them to engage with the course content before class, as many times as they wished and in their own time

41. A good number of students wrote: • Extract 20: The advantage of the videos is that I can experience the lecturer over and over again. It is done in my own time at my own leisure. I strongly urge that more of our subjects are carried out in this manner

42. The above findings show that the method enabled students to engage more with the subject matter outside the classroom, which according to • Kuh(2009) my lead to enhanced students’ understanding of the subject matter and hence deep learning

43. Other reasons given for liking the method were: • Materials provided to them on short videos allowed them to engage with concepts until they understood them, unlike in the lecture method • the ICM allowed them to actively participate in classroom activities (unlike the lecture method), which they indicated assisted them in learning and remembering content

44. Other reasons given for liking the method were: • It enabled them to take responsibility for their own learning • Extract 29: You are treated as an adult; you as a student have to take responsibility for getting the information • Extract 9: This method makes the student more interested in the work and eager to figure out what we given by the lecturer, by exploring the sources by yourself, it is intriguing and makes you understand the work

45. However, a few students (15 out of 50) disliked the ICM • Lack of immediate feedback on problems encountered after engaging with course materials at home, • The fact that the method gave the students more responsibility for their learning, and • Love of the lecture method

46. The above may be partly because of the fact that these students are used to being taught using the lecture method, where the teacher is the ‘sage on the stage’ and the students are passive receivers of knowledge (Lehmann & Chamberlin 2009), a method used in most HEIs (Bates & Galloway 2012; Koller 2011).

47. The Lecture method was liked by 6 students because… • Extract 18: It is the same way all the other subjects are taught • Extract 19: It is a method that I am accustomed to and because of that familiarity, it makes it more enjoyable for me

48. Immediate interaction with the lecturer in class was put forward as a reason for liking the traditional lecture method by 14 of the students. One had this to say: • Extract 45: In class I can ask if the lecturer talks about something and feel more involved. Also calculations are better to understand when it is handwritten and to participate in the process of the calculation and to get to find answer.

49. The above may also explain why students rated the lecture method statistically significantly more favorably for class attendance and concentration in class • However, the traditional lecture method was disliked by 28 of the students taking this course. Some of the reasons given by a substantial number of the students were lack of student involvement in the class, the time slot of the lecture, lack of concentration and the fast pace of teaching during the lecture.

50. Students wrote: Extract 7: It is late in the afternoon, after attending a number of lectures. I find it a bit harder to concentrate for longer Extract 14: Up till a certain point, one’s concentration is broken by tiredness, due to minimal involvement