Exploring the association between the cognitive level of pre-class feedback questions, social participatory roles, and academic performance in flipped learning

Flipped learning often faces challenges related to insufficient student preparation and limited engagement in pre-class activities. Pre-class social interaction and cognitive feedback are key processes in student knowledge construction, playing a critical role in determining the effectiveness of flipped learning. However, systematic evidence remains lacking regarding the joint associations among cognitive levels in pre-class feedback questions, social participatory roles, and academic performance. To address this research gap, a longitudinal empirical study was conducted among 38 undergraduate students over the course of one semester. Social and epistemic network analysis methods were used to explore the association between the cognitive level of pre-class feedback questions, social participatory roles, and academic performance. The results revealed that core participants consistently demonstrated higher-level cognition than peripheral participants. As the course progressed, core participants consistently demonstrated higher-level cognition, whereas peripheral participants’ cognitive levels appeared to shift from surface to deeper processing. The peripheral participants with high academic performance also demonstrated higher-level cognition. Moreover, the mediation analysis indicated that cognitive level played a partial mediation role in the relationship between social participatory roles and academic performance. Finally, the study proposed the design and practical implications for flipped teaching based on these findings.