Abstract:

Flipped learning is a blended learning approach where content delivery and direct instruction are scheduled for individual space activities before class, whereas face-to-face group activities in class are designed to be active and work through a wide range of high level cognitive tasks. In the last two decades, the benefits of this pedagogical approach have been supported by a large body of research. Reversing a traditional class into a flipped class is neither an obvious nor an easy task, and its adoption must consider the impact on both students and lecturers.

The key for the flipped learning approach to be effective relies on students completing the individual space activities designed by the instructors before attending the class. Thus, the instructors must guide, orient and motivate students to be engaged and to fulfil all the proposed pre-class activities. Otherwise, students may struggle with these activities and attend the class without the prerequisites to participate effectively in the scheduled group activities. In addition to being prepared for the in-class activities, in this stage of the flipped learning approach students acquire self-regulated learning skills while coping with the provided learning materials.

This paper focuses on describing the experience of flipping two “Embedded and Ubiquitous Systems” courses taught in two Master Degrees in Computer Engineering, one at the University of Oviedo and one at the University of Almería (Spain). These courses have been taught for several years using the traditional model.

Individual space activities include video lectures, readings and exercises, all of them available online through the course LMS. They were designed by the courses’ instructors for each student to acquire the knowledge required to attend the in-class activities. Student participation in pre-class activities was tracked by instructors through the LMS. In addition, student success in these activities was assessed based on questionnaires addressed at the beginning of each class. Students answered the questionnaires using smartphones, tablets or laptop computers and the Kahoot! game-based, personal response system. Besides promoting student participation, emerging technologies are included in the class space and a vast amount of time is saved, which can be used for other learning activities.

Our experience in teaching “Embedded and Ubiquitous Systems” following the described flipped learning approach proved successful not only from the point of view of student performance, but also from student satisfaction. Among all the students enrolled in the courses, roughly 90% are in favour of active learning in class, specially peer-to-peer discussions, and 80% feel more engaged. In addition, 70% of the students express they prefer the flipped learning model, whereas 20% prefer the traditional model and 10% remain neutral. In all cases, students also feel teachers are more engaged and committed using the flipped learning model than they are in the traditional model. Although student feedback was very positive, there is space for improvement, incorporating suggestions made by both lecturers and students.

Keywords:

Blended learning, active learning, flipped classroom, clickers.