Student Engagement: Potentials of the Flipped Classroom Approach

Abstract

This article explores the blended learning model of flipping the classroom in the context of higher education across a range of disciplinary settings to examine student engagement. Flipping the classroom is a model that reverses at-home assignments and in-person classroom lectures. Pre-recorded lectures are viewed outside of the class, and in-person classroom time is devoted to interactive activities. Our aim was to explore the flipped classroom’s potential and pitfalls, particularly in the context of the problem-based learning model applied at Roskilde University. We implemented the flipped classroom approach in our own teaching as experiments in five independent interventions. Through observing each other’s classes, surveys, and reflexive notetaking, we experienced the approach to increase students’ emotional engagement, as it gives more time in the classroom for interactive activities. According to constructivist learning theory, these activities stimulate learning. From a teacher’s perspective, it was generally experienced as rewarding, but also time consuming.