Flipped Classroom Model for Enhancing Student Learning in Construction Education

Abstract

Universities are facing many challenges with growing student numbers and a need to modify the traditional lecture and tutorial–based face-to-face pedagogical style both for students who work full-time while studying and for international students who may have language difficulties. To address these challenges, a flipped classroom pedagogical model was trialled in a second-year module in a Construction Management undergraduate degree program. The model consisted of preclass online quizzes, in-class face-to-face lectures, group tasks, active learning spaces, adaptive online tutorials and a case-based assessment. Evaluation findings suggest that preclass activities are an important feature of a flipped classroom to actively engage students in independent learning and to help them construct their own knowledge. Findings also highlight the significance of physical space to facilitate collaboration and interactions between students, improve their learning experience, and inspire students to learn in an active environment. The findings have implications for both educational developers and academics to support the development of open, online, and blended learning courses and to deploy, implement, and evaluate higher education courses.