Abstract:

The flipped learning approach is continuing to gain popularity in education. The classroom instruction and homework activities are flipped allowing the instructor increased use of class session for richer, deeper, and more meaningful discussion and activities requiring higher order thinking skills. While the flipped approach was first proposed for use in K-12 settings, its use in higher education has continued to grow and evolve, in part due to the increased access to technology and ease of video-based content creation.

Flipped learning approaches have been identified as important for providing students with pre-class learning activities and freeing in-class time for development of critical thinking, collaboration and application of learning concepts. Flipping a fully online class challenges several assumptions of the traditional flipped classroom. As courses and programs in higher education are increasingly being offered fully online, institutions of higher education are under pressure to innovate online teaching and learning in order to meet student’s learning needs without in-person class meetings. Over six million students are taking at least one online course in their undergraduate or graduate work. (Allen & Seaman, 2017). Despite the increase in enrollment numbers, the completion rates for online learning are significantly lower as compared to face-to-face programs (Gering, Sheppard, Adams, Renes, & Morotti, 2018). In light of these challenges, higher education institutions are continuing to look for innovative ways to improve student learning and incorporate effective teaching and learning strategies into online courses.

The purpose of this study was to gain insights into methods of incorporating best practices from the flipped learning approach into fully online courses. Instructors who had significant experience in teaching fully online as well as fully face-to-face courses were recruited to participate in the study. In-depth interview methodology was used in this qualitative study to investigate how flipped approaches can implemented. Seven faculty in graduate programs in education at a higher education institution who taught online courses were interviewed for their insights on flipped learning approaches. Overall, participants felt that delivering content and lectures through videos can easily be accomplished in online settings using the learning management system integrated with other technology tools and applications. The instructors described technology tools that can support the flipped learning approach in their online courses. However, the instructors found that the lack of synchronous face-to-face class meetings posed the greatest challenge to providing opportunities for Socratic-type discussions that can lead to deeper learning by the students. Class size was another impediment identified. Overall, most subjects interviewed highlighted difficulties with incorporating the flipped approached in online teaching and suggested possible solutions for the incorporation of flipped strategies that can allow for deeper learning.

Keywords:

Flipped learning, pedagogy, discursive learning, online education, higher education, qualitative research, learning technology.