Abstract:

The emergence of COVID-19 has accentuated in Higher Education the need to rely on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), as well as on the use of different teaching methodologies. Flipped Learning (FL) methodology has recently become one of the engines of change in teaching methodology, where the traditional role of the teacher shifts to the students, letting them be a more active to acquire their knowledge. Many studies have been conducted that demonstrate the positive results in favour of the use of FL in academic performance in comparison with the traditional teaching approach. Nevertheless, only 20% of published works focus on studying the applicability of this methodology in the disciplines of Social and Humanitarian Sciences in Universities. So, there is a need for more studies that demonstrate the best practices based on the application of FL specifically, in those areas.

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficiency of flipped classroom implementation, applied to the theory and practice parts of the subject “Communication Policy and Digital Advertising” (PCPD) in a Marketing Degree, during the course 2020/2021. Also, a comparison was made with the results obtained in the previous course (same subject) using the traditional methodology. The sample analyzed includes the participation of 94 students in the course without FL and 63 with FL. The course without FL, was taught face–to-face using ICTs through Moodle and other platforms, such as Kahoot, to reinforce student learning through competitions and assessment tests. The course with FL, was taught online only, interactive materials and didactic resources were incorporated into Moodle, which allowed the student to develop activities (wooclap, H5P); before, during and after class; which were complemented by the teacher's lectures.

The results express there are no statistically significant differences between the average values of the marks in the final exam with FL or without FL; nor between the average values of the total grade of PCPD with FL or without FL. However, the Mann-Whitney U test shows differences between the means of the grades in synchronous and asynchronous activities, with FL and without FL. Analyzing the Spearman correlation test, the existence of a high positive linear relationship between the grade in the final exam and the total grade of PCPD was verified, this relationship was statistically significant. Additionally, after the application of the FL model, the impact on teacher evaluations reveals an increase in grade of 8%. Finally, an online survey was conducted to evaluate the student's perception of the FL methodology, where students valued FL positively reaching an average of more than 4 out of 5 points.

This research shows that in the short term, the FL methodology has an impact on the good assessment of the teacher and students’ grades. However, the literature proposes to deepen the study of the effects of FL in the long term, analyzing the application of the methodology in various courses, its implementation in other areas of the social sciences, as well as its impact beyond the university remains a challenge for the academy.

Keywords:

Flipped-Learning, Higher-Education, Academic Performance, TIC, Wooclap, Social Science.