Using the Flipped Classroom Model in a Junior Level Course to Increase Student Learning and Success

Abstract

Engineering courses typically follow a similar framework for content delivery: preread, lecture, and homework. Innovations are starting to be embraced that increase engagement, student learning, and success. One technique that is being experimented with is the use of the flipped classroom. In the flipped classroom model, students watch videos of the lectures and spend class time working on active learning activities. In this study, the flipped model was applied to a junior level civil engineering course, Structural Analysis, with the goal of increasing student learning and success. A statistical analysis of the attainment of the student learning objectives (i.e., student learning) determined mixed results. Of the seven learning objectives for the course: four increased, two decreased, and one decreased less than one percent. The study found that the flipped model had a positive effect on student success. There was a 7.9% increase in students who earned a C grade or better in the course.