flipped classroom does not
automatically result in higher
pass rates
a case study for the course Applied
Mechanics part 1, 1st Bachelor,
Engineering Science
Evert Vanecht
student counselor
Faculty of Engineering Science
KU Leuven
content
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higher education in Belgium?
what is flipped teaching?
how is this put into practice?
were the students activated?
what is the impact on learning outcomes?
what is the perception of the students?
what does literature say?
how to proceed?
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higher education in Flanders?
higher education in Flanders?
• Flanders
o
o
o
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5 universities and 22 university colleges
we have a bachelor and master structure (Bologna)
the general admission requirement for Bachelor
Programmes is the Flemish secondary education
diploma
No entrance exams
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higher education
@ KU Leuven ?
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heart of Western Europe
founded in 1425
Belgium's largest and highest-ranked university
one of the oldest and most renowned universities in Europe
caters to more than 40,000 students spread out over 16
faculties
• Faculty of Engineering Science has a total of 1,600 students
• 523 new first year bachelor students started at our faculty
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what is flipped teaching?
what is flipped teaching?
• flipped teaching
o
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flipped classroom, backwards classroom, Thayer method
“blended learning”
• students study new content online (usually at home)
• former homework is done in class
o
in the classroom: coaching and interaction instead of passive
one-way information transfer
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source: http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/
what is flipped teaching?
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source: http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/
what is flipped teaching?
why flip?
o increase learning outcomes
• by beter use of face-to-face time
• by activating students during alle phases (before, during, and after
class)
o
technology easily available
• Many options for recording videos
• Many options for streaming
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•
videolab – Toledo
youtube
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how is this put into practice?
how is this put into practice?
bachelor Engineering Science
• Applied Mechanics – part 1 (5 ECTS)
o when: 1st bachelor, 1st semester
o teaching team: Prof. Jos Vander Sloten, Prof. Dirk Vandepitte,
Riet Callens, Tinne De Laet, Evert Vanecht
o number of students: 638 (2 groups)
implemented for the first time this academic year
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how is this put into practice?
traditional?
• lectures, practice sessions, exam
• limited theory!
• exercise exam!
goal: students make exercises during the semester (active/independent)
how did we flip?
• before each lesson (except 1st), watch one or more short video’s (max. 15
minutes)
• in class:
o brief summary
o exercise on blackboard by teacher
o solve problem under guidance of teacher and assistent
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how is this put into practice?
• web clips recorded via tablet-screencasts:
• digital recording of tablet screen output, including audio recording
(ExplainEverything-app)
• combining ‘development by hand’ (cfr. chalkboard) and pieces of prepared
text, graphics and voice recording
• streamed via virtual learning platform (videolab and Toledo)
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were the students activated?
were the students activated?
• during interactive lecture: Yes …
o
students made excercises and asked questions
• 15 student representatives (hearing 13 November 2013)
o
were very enthusiastic about the approach
o
suggested to implement in other courses
o
web lectures are a good preparation for the lessons
o
web clips should not last much longer than 10 minutes
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were the students activated?
• before interaction college:
group A
#stud = 257
Lecture 2
400
350
L8
0
16
L 15
L 13
L 14
L 12
L6
L 11 (TTT)
50
L4
L5
100
L7
150
L9
200
Lecture 3
250
Lecture 1 (no clip)
Activity level
300
were the students activated?
Lecture 2
• before interaction college: No
400
group A
#stud = 257
16%
percentage of students that did not watch
350
0
17
71%
L 15
66%
L 14
L 12
60%
L 13
work college
50
L6
100
L4
L5
42%
L 11 (TTT)
L7
150
L8
52%
L9
200
35%
Lecture 3
250
Lecture 1 (no clip)
Activity level
300
what is the impact on
learning outcomes?
what is the impact on learning outcomes?
distribution exam scores all students
score
80
#stud = 638
mean = 7.3/20
standard deviation= 3.6
passing rate 29%
70
# students
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Score /20
19
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14
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what is the impact on learning outcomes?
distribution exam scores all students
score
80
#stud = 638
mean = 7,3
standard deviation= 3,6
passing rate 29%
70
# students
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Score /20
20
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14
15
16
17
18
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what is the impact on learning outcomes?
correlation between activity level and exam score
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contradiction!
student representatives perceive ‘flipped classroom’
as more activating
many students are not activated before the interactive lecture
learning outcomes are not better
 survey
• did students got more activated?
• were they better prepared for class?
• did they study more efficient/effective?
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what is the perception of
the students?
what is the perception of the students?
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participants survey
70
all students
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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25% participated in survey
35% of these students gave additional feedback
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17% engineer-architect/ 83% engineer
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what is the perception of the students?
- flipped teaching
I’m enthusiastic about the current approach (flipped
teaching)
70%
63%
60%
50%
40%
30%
24%
20%
11%
10%
2%
0%
full agreement
tend to agree
tend to disagree totally disagree
this approach suits me because it forces me to make
exercises in class
this approach is not good for me because I could
not keep up
60%
60%
50%
50%
50%
40%
40%
32%
30%
30%
20%
57%
24%
20%
13%
10%
6%
10%
13%
6%
0%
0%
full agreement
tend to agree tend to disagree totally disagree
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full agreement tend to agree
tend to
disagree
totally disagree
what is the perception of the students?
- web clips
I found the web clips useful
I did not look at the webclips
60%
70%
50%
61%
60%
48%
50%
40%
30%
40%
29%
30%
16%
20%
10%
20%
10%
5%
11%
4%
0%
0%
full agreement tend to agree
tend to
disagree
full agreement tend to agree
totally disagree
47%
50%
tend to
disagree
totally disagree
viewing the web clips before class should be
mandatory
I prepared myself well for the interactive lectures
50%
41%
41%
40%
40%
31%
30%
30%
20%
10%
24%
20%
6%
15%
12%
10%
4%
0%
0%
full agreement
tend to agree tend to disagree totally disagree
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full agreement tend to agree
tend to
disagree
totally disagree
what is the perception of the students?
- interactive lectures
I made excercises in an independent manner during the
interactive lectures
60%
53%
50%
40%
36%
30%
20%
10%
9%
2%
0%
full agreement
I could not keep up during the interactive lectures
because I did not master the new concepts yet
tend to agree tend to disagree totally disagree
50%
38%
40%
40%
30%
20%
11%
10%
10%
0%
full agreement
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tend to agree
tend to disagree totally disagree
what is the perception of the students?
– making excercises
I have made exercises actively and independently
during the semester
50%
42%
40%
30%
29%
24%
20%
10%
5%
0%
full agreement
tend to agree tend to disagree totally disagree
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what is the perception of the students?
– suggestions for us
• webclips should be shorter (boring, too slow) - 27%
• slides should be available (to study at own pace) - 11%
• content of web clips was repeated at start of class (web clips
redundant and/or first 15 min of interactive lecture of little
interest) - 16%
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what is the perception of the students?
– suggestions for themselves
• "I should have made ​a lot of exercises on a regular basis and
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not all exercises at the end of the semester"
“you just have to make enough exercises"
“just do a lot of exercises and start early!"
"I obviously need to practice more during the semester"
"exercises are much more important than theory. I would make
more exercises and then go back to theory when something is
unclear. Now I wanted to first understand the theory, and then
make exercises. However, this strategy was not correct"
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what does literature say?
what does literature say?
• Freeman et al.
- a meta-analysis of 225 studies that reported data on
traditional lectures versus active learning in
undergraduate STEM courses
- average examination scores raised by 6%
- average failure rate decreased from 34% to 22%
- less effective for large class sizes (>110)
• Kettle
- watching videos = least enjoyable part for the students
- weaker, less diligent students were not equipped for
the problem-solving lesson after watching a video
lecture
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Freeman et al, PNAS, 2014
M. Kettle, Physics Eduction, 2013
what does literature say?
• Toto and Nguyen suggest the use of a ‘door check’ quiz
- 1 to 3 question quiz to encourage the students to
view the web clips
• Lucke et al. suggest the use of a Class Response System
(CRS)
- allows students to use their mobile devices to
respond to a variety of (graded) questions during class
- encourages student engagement and participation
- providing immediate feedback to both students and
instructors
- particularly in large33classes
R, Toto and H. Nguyen, Frontiers in Education Conference, 2009
Lucke et al, Frontiers in Education Conference, 2013
how to proceed?
how will we proceed?
• we keep on flipping!
• interactive lectures
no summary of the web clip content at the start of class
• web colleges
o emphasize importance of preparation
o where possible shorter and more powerful
o mandatory
o activating questions during web lecture (grade)
o monitor viewing habits and send warnings
o
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acknowledgement
• thanks to
o
Dirk Vandepitte, Jos Vander Sloten, Riet Callens,
Kathleen Geraedts, Tinne De Laet
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questions?
suggestions?
Evert Vanecht
student counselor
Faculty of Engineering Science
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