Assessment of Performance and Student Feedback in the Flipped Classroom

Abstract Student feedback and assessment of performance in a flipped biomedical electronics classroomMultiple advantages have been reported to teaching in a flipped classroom setting, which includeincreased interactions between instructor and students, increased interactions between students leading topeer-teaching, personalized instruction given to students according to their individual needs, and makingthe students responsible for their own learning.A junior-senior level biomedical electronics course was changed from the traditional lecture mode ofcontent delivery to a flipped classroom paradigm. The learning material was delivered in 13 recordedvideos (total duration ~ 5 hours) that the students were asked to watch outside of class, thus freeing ~ 45hours for group problem-solving activities in the classroom. Short quizzes were administered to thestudents every 3 – 4 class meetings to ensure that they would keep pace with learning the course material.Quiz results allowed us to identify misconceptions and incorrect understanding of the course content thatcould be corrected through additional classroom problems and video feedback (solutions recorded andposted on learning management system).Student feedback was collected by administering a survey and through a focus group. Students' responseswere largely in line with the reported advantages of the flipped classroom approach including the abilityto review "more difficult" sections of the course material several times with the video lectures, a moreengaging and collaborative classroom environment, more time for solving complex problems, and deeperunderstanding of the course content. Interestingly, students favored retaining a certain amount oftraditional homework as a means to reinforce learning. A small proportion of students expressed favoringthe traditional lecture mode of teaching.Student performance on summative assessment measures (one midterm and one final exam) improved inthe flipped classroom compared to the performance observed in a traditional classroom setting. Theaverage class scores were higher in the flipped classroom. The distribution of scores tilted toward thehigher marks with a smaller fraction of low performers suggesting that nearly all students benefited fromthe increased amount of problem-solving practice, individualized attention, and collaborative work.Performance on the final exam was highly correlated to the performance on the quizzes highlighting theimportance of keeping pace with the course material during the whole semester.We conclude that most students appreciated learning in a flipped classroom setting and empiricallyperceived the advantages of this approach that have been reported in the literature. Students' performanceimproved in the flipped classroom with benefits extending to nearly all students. Using multiple shortformative assessments during the duration of the course was also beneficial and predictive ofperformance on the summative final exam.