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To flip or not to flip: social science faculty members’ concerns about flipping the classroom

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Abstract

Flipped Classroom (FC) is a blended learning approach being promoted in higher education in recent years. It flips the conventional pedagogic arrangement so that students use the out-of-class time to conduct lower-order learning and the in-class time to conduct higher-order learning. Nevertheless, unlike the adoption phenomena in other academic disciplines such as Science, Engineering, Medicine and Education in university teaching, the adoption of FC in Social Science has been rare. This paper reports on a quantitative study (n = 152) in which the Stages of Concern model was employed to probe into the concerns of Social Science faculty members (SSFMs) about introducing FC into their teaching practice. The study reveals that the participants were having strong categorical concerns of “Information” and “Management.” The findings shed light on designing more precise interventions for addressing SSFMs’ actual needs when flipping their classrooms, providing a useful reference for researchers and practitioners who are pursuing work on promoting FC in higher education.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you very much to all SSFMs who participated in the present study, especially the five SSFMs who participated in the focus group interview.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction & Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Morris Siu-Yung Jong

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  1. Morris Siu-Yung Jong
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Correspondence to Morris Siu-Yung Jong.

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Appendix

Appendix

A: Items in the SoC questionnaire

SoC construct

Item

When I think about the adoption of FC in my teaching practice, how much am I concerned about the followings?

Evaluation

E1

How many colleagues in my faculty now are flipping their classrooms

E2

My faculty dean’s attitude towards FC

E3

The global popularity of FC in higher education

E4

Whether the LMS in my university can facilitate my adoption of FC

Information

I1

Whether I have fully understood the pedagogic idea of FC

I2

Professional development training for learning more about FC

I3

How to design adequate pre-class learning activities for FC

I4

How to design adequate in-class learning activities for FC

Management

M1

Time demanded for developing the pre-class materials for flipping my classroom

M2

My technical competence in developing the pre-class materials for flipping my classroom

M3

Whether students will be willing to finish the pre-class activities of FC

M4

Whether students will actively participate in the in-class activities of FC

Consequence

C1

Enhancing my students’ higher order thinking through FC

C2

Enhancing my students’ understanding of their learning role in FC

C3

Collaborate with other SSFMs to design the resources for implementing FC

C4

A community for exchanging SSFMs’ experiences in implementing FC

Refocusing

R1

Enhancing the current use of FC based on my experiences

R2

Enhancing the current use of FC based on my students’ experiences

R3

Using FC in more courses that I am teaching

R4

Expanding the scope of adopting FC in my faculty

B: Guiding questions asked in the focus group interview

  1. 1.

    When and where did you first learn FC?

  2. 2.

    To what extent are you familiar with the pedagogic idea of FC?

  3. 3.

    Do you think you are technically ready to flip your classroom?

  4. 4.

    What kinds of support should your university provide you with in order to facilitate you to try FC in your teaching?

  5. 5.

    Can you picture how your students will perform in a FC setting?

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Jong, M.SY. To flip or not to flip: social science faculty members’ concerns about flipping the classroom. J Comput High Educ 31, 391–407 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-019-09217-y

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