Abstract:

A flipped classroom is a learning method in which students complete essential learning before class as homework, such as the content of explanatory lectures and learning necessary for the retention of knowledge and cultivation of applied skills, such as tutorials and project learning (Bergmann & Sams, 2012). Students who take flipped classrooms need to do pre-class learning for effective flipped classroom teaching (Wei et al., 2020). However, some prior studies found the problem that some learners do not complete pre-class learning, preventing all members in the class from fully realizing the benefits of flipped classroom teaching (e.g., Bergmann & Sams, 2012; Yamamoto et al., 2017). Thus, the learners’ implementation of pre-class learning is necessary for the flipped classroom’s success.

Matsuoka et al. (2022) found that:
(1) students felt the need to perform pre-class learning, and
(2) mastery of the content learned in pre-class learning would be recognized by others, as possible factors that may encourage implementation of pre-class learning in flipped classrooms. In addition, students who implemented pre-class learning made their deadlines well in advance.

This study aims to identify effective ways to support high school students who take mathematics flipped classroom lessons to encourage them to do pre-class learning. We compare students’ learning preferences who did and did not do the pre-class learning and examined the relationship between the pre-class learning implementation and learning preferences. Furthermore, we investigate effective support methods to encourage the implementation of the pre-class learning based on the achievement of the pre-class learning.

We designed the flipped classroom lesson based on the guidelines described in Lo et al. (2017). Before class, we explained the students an overview of the flipped classroom. In pre-class learning, students watched short lecture videos and filled out a worksheet to summarize the content of the videos. The teacher responds to students’ questions online during the pre-class learning. In the face-to-face lesson, students are encouraged to apply the knowledge they have acquired in the pre-class learning. At the end of the class, students receive feedback on their learning.

First, the students answer a 23-item questionnaire using the 5-point Likert scale about their learning preferences before the lessons (Yajima & Arai, 1994). Next, students take the mathematics flipped classroom lesson incorporating the support methods to encourage the pre-class learning. Finally, students answer a 12-item questionnaire using 5-point Likert scale about the effectiveness of the support methods.

This study investigates the effectiveness of the following three support methods:
(1) Instruct students to plan and set a goal for doing the pre-class learning when we tell them.
(2) Explain the relationship between the content of the pre-class learning and the face-to-face lesson when explaining how to do the pre-class learning.
(3) Visualize the students’ learning level by displaying the difficulty level for each question on the worksheet used in the pre-class learning.

Based on the results, we will examine effective ways to support students to encourage them to implement flipped classroom pre-class learning.

Keywords:

Flipped Classroom, Pre-Class Learning, Mathematics, Learning Support.