Flipping the classroom: an effective approach to deal with diversity at higher education

Abstract

Even though the flipped classroom is an increasingly popular method in education, a literature search shows a gap in research on this method in higher education. This article describes an experiment with two central questions: (1) How do students and lecturers assess the effectiveness of the FC method? And (2) What are crucial design elements? To be able to answer these questions we designed an experiment within a large-size, interdisciplinary, course. For three years we carefully monitored and evaluated the course. A mixed-method approach was used to collect data. Our findings show a positive contribution of the FC approach to the learning experience of students. We also found that a strong link between theory and practice is essential in the course design; combined with active learning we were able to involve students and stimulate them to reach a deeper level of understanding. Moreover, we believe that the FC approach offers opportunities to have a large interdisciplinary group, with different learning needs, work together on higher attainment levels.