THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM: A MODEL EXPERIMENTED WITH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF PALERMO

Abstract

This paper describes the results of an exploratory study, which examines the results of a flipped classroom trial conducted for 154 students. This work was carried out in a course of Docimology at University of Palermo for future teachers, during the first semester of the academic year 2015. In this article we present the methodology, the tools and the main results of the exploratory study. As the flip learning model based on students learning by themselves, it is especially well adapted to the university environment. Flipped learning allows for a much more interactive classroom lesson, with the teacher helping students when they are stuck as opposed to the traditional set-up of students passively listening to lectures and taking their assignments home afterwards. Teacher used the flipped classroom style for a part of the lesson and the traditional lecture-style teaching methodology for the other part. Some interviews were conducted with the students in the flipped classroom to gather information on their views of the learning environment in a flipped classroom. A comparison of the quantitative results of the grades between the different part of the lessons was used to compare the academic outcomes between the two teaching methodologies. Student views on the flipped classroom were mixed with the academic outcomes. These findings are discussed in terms of how the flipped classroom teaching methodology needs to be implemented properly and whether or not it is an effective way to engage students in the learning process. At the end of the study we can say that with the use of flip model the attendance increased significantly. The research shows that there is a broad and general agreement on the importance and relevance of adopting innovative teaching strategies with future teachers.