Designing Flipped-Classes to be Taught with Limited Resources: Impact on Students’ Attitudes and Learning

Abstract

Flipped-classes in higher education are becoming increasingly widespread due to the appeal of replacing passive lectures with active-learning communities of inquiry. This mixed methods research study follows the efforts of a professor who had limited resources as she incorporated the flipped-class design in her introductory accounting class. Class designs (lecture vs flipped-class) were compared using the community of inquiry survey, satisfaction survey, opened-ended comments, and students’ final exam scores. The study found the flipped-class design had a significant impact on students’ attitudes with higher levels of community of inquiry (CoI) (p = .002), teaching presence (TP) (p = .002), social presence (SP) (p = .002), and improved satisfaction levels (SAT) (p = .003). Open-ended comments resulted in more positive comments in the flipped class design compared to the traditional lecture format (90% vs 37%). The higher levels of CoI predicted students’ SAT score (65.4%). The study found no significant changes in students’ learning as measured by their final exam or perceptions of cognitive presence (CP).