Student Performance in Conventional and Flipped Classroom Learning Environments

Abstract

. Education and pedagogy are being transformed by developments in information technology and advances in learning theory that provide opportunities for improved outcomes in agricultural engineering education. The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which learning activities not requiring human interaction take place outside the classroom (enabled by technology) and learning activities requiring human interaction take place in the classroom (virtual or physical).

A pilot study compared the performance and preference by graduate students in a food chain logistics agricultural engineering course learning using a flipped classroom and a traditional face-to-face lecture modes of instruction. Two contiguous modules were developed in both modes of instruction. Students were divided into two groups, each group learning the course material using one module in each mode of instruction.

Students learning by the flipped classroom mode of instruction achieved significantly higher and more uniform test scores. Mean percentage scores for the flipped classroom ranged from 97.6% to 100% while mean scores under the conventional lecture ranged from 62% to 78.5%, with standard deviations ranging from 0 to 2.1 and 18.7 to 23.6, respectively. Also, a high level of significance (p<0.0001) was found showing a preference for the flipped classroom mode of instruction for the subject group. Students perceived they learn more, in less time, under the flipped classroom model.

The results of this study suggest that agricultural engineering education outcomes could be improved by appropriate use of the flipped classroom model of teaching and learning.