Flipped classroom approaches lead to no improvement in learning outcomes or student perceptions

The active learning approach has been suggested to promote increased learning in science classes when compared to the traditional lecture‐based approach. The flipped classroom approach is one method that has recently gained popularity to implement active learning approaches within the classroom by encouraging student‐centered group learning and problem solving activities. While some studies report that flipped classroom experiences can improve student performance and produce favorable student perceptions, others report that these gains in performance are not consistent and that the positive effects from flipped pedagogy are short lived. In this study we compared learning outcomes and student perceptions between two, randomized, study arms that were exposed to either active learning or lecture style pedagogy before and after they were crossed over between the pedagogy styles. To ensure continuity of experience, demographics and GPA were similar in each group and they received the exact same material with the only difference being the pedagogy employed. Group A received flipped classroom pedagogy, while group B received traditional lecture pedagogy for four consecutive sessions at which time the groups were crossed over. After the cross over group A received traditional lecture pedagogy and group B received the flipped classroom pedagogy for four additional consecutive sessions. At the end of each session a five‐question evaluation quiz was given and no significant difference in quiz performance was observed between the flipped or lecture groups except that group B outperformed group A during the traditional arm of the study. No differences were observed when exam performance was compared. To assess students' attitudes about the flipped vs. lecture pedagogy, a previously validated Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was utilized. A pre‐course survey, a midway‐survey and a post‐course survey was given. Findings suggest that while student confidence in their abilities was reduced initially, this recovered toward the end of the study. Taken together, flipped classroom approaches in this study did not have a significant difference on student performance or perception.