The Application of Flipped Classroom in English Class: Indonesian Students’ Perspective

Abstract

Class dynamics requires development in learning methodologies to cater to the learners' characteristics. Flipped classroom is invented for this purpose with the help of technology. It aims at facilitating students' participation and high-order activities. The research aims to assess the use of flipped classroom in the Department of Family Law (Ahwal Syakhshiyah), Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universitas Islam Indonesia. This research tries to illustrate students' perspective on the use of flipped classroom in their language classes. Responses written in the reflection sheet indicate that most of the students find the learning method used in their class is enjoyable and the rest finds the method used is moderate. The researchers mainly point out two aspects from the results of the research, flipped classroom enables the students to have control on their own learning; meanwhile, the method creates confusion and culture shock to some students. The respondents were students who took English class in the department as a compulsory subject and the classes conducted in the first semester. There are some points noted for the improvement of flipped classroom in the coming years. First, the teacher needs to make clearer and stricter instructions on how the students use online materials for in-class learning. Secondly, gamification is a good option to maximize the students' comprehension. It can be used as feed forward and feed back in class. Aside from the fact that game is enjoyable, it promotes students' engagement and can also be used as an occasional reflection to monitor students' responses. Finally, an online forum needs to be initiated with the use of Bahasa Indonesia to meet students' level of English usage. There are two points that can contribute to the improvement of flipped classroom in the coming years. Teacher needs to make clearer and stricter instructions on how the students use online materials for in-class learning. Next, gamification is a good option to maximize the students' comprehension.