Abstract:

The growing emphasis on critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability in higher education has prompted a shift from traditional lecture-based teaching to more active learning approaches. Among these, the flipped classroom model has gained traction for its potential to foster student engagement and higher-order skills. While existing research on flipped learning in graduate school predominantly focuses on medical education, evidence remains limited and mixed. Flipped learning seems to be able to enhance motivation and engagement, though improvements in academic performance are less consistent across studies. Postgraduate students, with their advanced self-regulation and capacity for independent learning, may derive greater benefits from this approach, particularly through pre-class activities that allow flexible pacing.

This study addresses the gap in flipped learning research within postgraduate business education. It investigates the extent to which postgraduate students benefit from flipped learning and explores which in-class strategies maximize these benefits. The research was conducted in a course on academic integrity and business ethics, chosen for its balance of theoretical and practical content. Pre-class materials, including PowerPoint slides and selected readings, were provided via learning platform for students to review before attending sessions. Two classes, taught by the same instructor, adopted different in-class activities: one adopted debates with minimal lecture time, while the other incorporated presentations alongside brief lecture recaps. The former is intended to be more interactive than the latter. Both groups completed a questionnaire to capture perceptions of the flipped approach.

Findings indicate that students in both classes expressed satisfaction with the flipped approach, citing its alignment with their learning needs compared to traditional lectures. However, the debate-based class demonstrated stronger outcomes across all measured dimensions, including level of engagement and gains in collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity skills. These results suggest that highly interactive activities amplify the benefits of flipped learning for postgraduate students. Despite these positive perceptions, participants in both classes reported increased pre-class workload and time pressure relative to conventional lecture-based courses.

This research contributes to the understanding of flipped learning in postgraduate business education by highlighting the importance of interactive in-class activities and the challenges associated with workload management. The findings underscore the need for thoughtful design in flipped classrooms to balance flexibility, engagement, and cognitive demands.

Keywords:

Academic integrity, business ethics, postgraduate business education, active learning, flipped classroom.