The Effect of Flipped Classroom Learning Model on Students’ Understanding of Mathematical Concepts and Higher-Order Thinking Skills

Abstract

Students are required to understand mathematical concepts and higher-order thinking skills as essential mathematic skills in the 21st century. However, empirical evidence found that these two skills were unsatisfactory and still need to be improved. This study develops a flipped classroom learning model by integrating the process of mathematical modeling as a learning stage to support junior high school student’s understanding of mathematical concepts and higher-order thinking skills. Besides being designed for online mathematics learning, this model also support face-to-face classroom learning by solving real-life problems using mathematical modeling activities. The research design used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design. The research was conducted in the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year involving 128 eighth-grade (junior high school) students in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Students’ understanding of mathematical concept and higher-order thinking skills were tested through pre-test and post-test. The results showed that the student’s ability to understand mathematical concepts and higher-order thinking skills in the experimental group differed significantly from that of the control group. Thus, the flipped classroom learning model could more effectively increase junior high school students’ understanding of mathematical concepts and higher-order thinking skills compared to conventional learning. Other findings state that the flipped classroom learning model could support students’ problem-solving abilities and increase student collaboration in learning mathematics.