Abstract:

The flipped classroom has gained popularity and the number of lecturers who have flipped their courses has increased considerably in the last few years. Studies that investigate its effectiveness have pointed out numerous advantages of the flipped classroom compared to the traditional methodologies.

Among these advantages, previous works highlighted that this methodology improves teaching and learning processes; helps to develop students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills; is an efficient method for developing students’ understanding of the curriculum and for motivating students to become active rather than passive participants in the classroom; promotes the collaborative learning and increases the satisfaction in the development of the course; enhances the academic performance of the students, the assessment of professors and the interaction between instructors and students; enables instructors to invest the time of the lecture for practical issues; improves students’ engagement and academic progress; can assist students in developing their technology and digital literacy as well as their capacity for 21st-century learning, and better prepares them for the work environment; promotes meaningful learning and the strengthening of teacher-student relationships.

However, the flipped classroom methodology implies an effort on the part of the students, since they have to review the materials proposed by the lecturers outside the classroom, before the face-to-face sessions. Despite all of the benefits of flipped learning, the student’s perception is a crucial factor in determining the success of this strategy in the teaching and learning process. So far, it has not been sufficiently investigated. Not many studies have investigated the students’ acceptance of the flipped classroom, and whether they prefer this methodology or the traditional teaching method. In the field of econometrics, this is the first. However, the acceptance rate by students should not be overlooked, nor the study of the determinants that influence students' perceptions of the flipped classroom.

The present study investigates this point, analyzing the opinions of economics and economics and tourism undergraduate students participating in a completely flipped course of introductory econometrics. There are very few works analyzing the flipped classroom in Econometrics courses, and none evaluate the acceptance of this method by the students.

The aim of this study is to find out if the surveyed econometrics students prefer the flipped classroom to the traditional lectures, despite the effort involved in having to review the materials on their own before doing the classroom activities. A questionnaire was designed and administered to undergraduate economics and economics and tourism students enrolled in an introductory econometrics course. The survey instrument included questions that collect their opinions about the flipped classroom and the usefulness of the activities carried out in class, along with other questions about sociodemographic and academic characteristics of students, such as gender, age, and studies.

Results reveal that the level of acceptance is high and the perceived utility of the activities carried out during the face-to-face sessions is very high too. There are no significant differences by gender. By major, economics students have a higher level of acceptance than economics and tourism students.

Keywords:

Flipped classroom, higher education, students’ acceptance, econometrics.