Filomena Soares

WHAT DO STUDENTS OF A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION THINK ABOUT FLIPPED LEARNING

The “Flipped Classroom” or “Inverted Classroom” is a method of blended learning in which the traditional lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. It is a pedagogical model in which students gain first-exposure learning prior the class and focus on the processing part of learning (open discussions, solving tasks and application problems, clarifying the supporting fundaments, etc.) in class. This implies a much more active role for students and a more challenging mission for lecturers. Teaching involves not only of the communication of knowledge to students but also demands searching for a better way for knowledge transmission to students in the most effective, significant and technically accessible way. When preparing the Mathematics Zero course we were concerned with which teaching methods were the most appropriate for it. This course was attended by 47 students from Zero Year Course in Institute of Accounting and Administration of Porto (ISCAP) in the 2015/2016 academic year. Several innovation methods were tried, and, in the Spring 2016 semester the “Flipped Learning” model was used. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey in which students were asked about Flipped Classroom learning as a teaching method, using their experience from the Mathemathics Zero course. How does flipped learning work in practice as a pedagogical model? Would students prefer the traditional way of learning? What do students think about flipped learning as a teaching methodology? These and many other questions will be addressed investigating how the flipping affects student’s achievement.