Exploring the perceived beneftis of the flipped classroom in a community college medical terminolgy course

Abstract

Students today are managing many aspects of life outside of school obligations, resulting in missed class time and less exposure to lecture material. Flipped classroom techniques have been said to influence students' flexibility of personal time for learning, as well as academic achievement and overall course enjoyment. The purpose of this study was to identify benefits associated with the utilization of flipped classroom techniques, for both the students' and the instructor, in a college level Medical Terminology course. Data collection tools were developed to identify trends in these focus areas. During a five-week time period, flipped classroom techniques (treatment) were employed alternately with the standard lecture style, while covering four units of material. During the treatment students' watched short videos via the colleges' learning management system on their own time prior to class. This freed up class time for interactive learning with the use of engaging peer-to-peer activities, and completion of what would typically be considered homework materials. On alternate units, lecture was delivered with the standard didactic method previously employed, and homework assignments completed on their own time. If, after lecture was completed and time allowed, interactive activities were implemented during class. Results indicate no difference in student academic success between the two teaching methods. Student enjoyment of the course was markedly improved (28%), as well as increased flexibility of personal time (22%) with the treatment. Instructor benefits included an increased enjoyment of teaching, increased curriculum flexibility, and improved instructor-student relations. The instructor preparation time associated with the initial use of the treatment initially felt prohibitive, but the resulting benefits for all study subjects involved negated this.