Unraveling and rectifying the free-riding behavior among students in university flipped classrooms: a uninorm DEMATEL method

Abstract

Introduction: Flipped classrooms move education toward a more student- and learning-centered pedagogy and practice. When flipped classrooms are applied, a free-riding phenomenon may occur when certain students in a group do not participate completely in group tasks but receive the same grade as the other students, which creates unfairness and is not conducive to the sustainable development of university education. As far as we know, quantifying the unfairness caused by free-riding in flipped classrooms is still a problem that needs to be addressed. Methods: This paper proposes a fair assessment framework to unravel and rectify student free-riding in flipped classrooms. Firstly, the uninorm DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method is proposed to generate comprehensive indices of students. Secondly, the unfairness indices of groups and the discount parameters of students are determined based on the comprehensive index. The discounted scores are employed to modify students' achievement to ensure fairness. Results: A case study involving 57 students is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, and a sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess its robustness. Four findings are uncovered. (1) Free-riding behavior exists in university flipped classrooms, and quantifying unfairness enables more targeted pedagogical interventions. (2) Discounted scores can enhance student motivation while promoting fairness. (3) Group scores do not show a direct correlation with unfairness indices. (4) The number of students does not exhibit a direct correlation with unfairness indices. Discussion: The fair assessment framework provides educational administrators with a tool for quantifying the effectiveness of course implementation, promoting the positive development of collaborative learning and the effective implementation of flipped classrooms, and contributing to the sustainable development of university education.