Abstract:

In the last few decades, competitiveness inherent in the increasingly globalized world requires tertiary students not only to have a solid knowledge base but also to develop a proactive attitude and several competences that allow them to face the challenges that the professional world will present. Given this circumstance, introducing teaching methodologies that favour the development of competences such as teamwork, communication, and problem- and conflict-solving, among others, becomes a key issue. In this sense, flipped learning (FL) is an innovative technique that favors the development of these competences thanks to the creation of a context where intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and cognitive load are fostered (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015).

The positive effects of FL could be theoretically explained by self-determination theory (SDT) and cognitive load theory (CLT). Based on SDT, FL creates an environment where intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is fostered, motivation that could improve not only the academic performance of tertiary students but also the achievement of skills required in a dynamic and hypercompetitive environment (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015; Thai, De Wever, & Valcke, 2017; Zainuddin & Halili 2016). Based on CLT, which argues that an individual’s working memory is limited, adapting learning to the rhythm of each student is crucial for his or her processing of information (De Jong, 2010). Because FL allows students to learn at their own pace, it encourages the processing of complex information and consequently improves their levels of academic performance (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015).

Although both theories can support the advantages of FL in academic performance, few studies have empirically analyzed the antecedents of academic performance that underlie each of the theories. Therefore, there is no empirical support for affirming the supremacy of one theory over the other in relation to the importance of using a holistic approach that considers the complementarity of both in the explanation of predictors of academic performance in the context of FL methodology. In addition, there is no evidence about the factors that improve student’s academic performance in subjects based on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) instruction and those that attended to the same program in their mother tongue (traditional instruction). However, different factors might be more relevant in each type of instruction. Therefore, SDT and CLT might have a different influence for explaining the antecedents to student’s academic performance when FL is applied.

The relevance of FL has been observed in different levels of education, resulting in an increase in the number of papers dedicated to the study of this methodology. However, most of the research has focused on the specific field of primary and secondary education, and little attention has been given to tertiary education (Estes, Ingram, & Liu, 2015).

Taking into account the benefits of FL, the scarcity of empirical research on this topic, and relying on SDT and CLT, the current study aims to analyze the impact of motivation and cognitive load derived from the application of FL on academic performance of tertiary students both in the CLIL instruction and in the subjects based on traditional instruction.

Keywords:

Flipped learning, clil, academic performance, motivation, cognitive load.