The use of flipped classrooms to stimulate students’ participation in an academic course in Initial Teacher Education

Abstract This article discusses the use of flipped classrooms in the academic course ‘Philosophy of science and research methods’ in Initial Teacher Education. A socio-cultural perspective on learning was the theoretical foundation for the design of the flipped classroom, where the aims were to stimulate students’ participation and engagement in the course. Students reported that the combination of online lectures and writing mandatory texts – as a way of preparing for group and plenary discussions on campus – had, to some extent, stimulated greater involvement in the teaching and learning processes. How meaningful the group work on campus was perceived to be varied among the participants, and a critical factor seemed to be the way groups were organised on campus. Variation in modalities was highlighted among the students. They also pointed to this way of organising teaching and learning processes as relevant to their future teaching practices.