A quantitative analysis of the short-term and mid-term benefit of a flipped classroom for foundational engineering dynamics

Abstract

The flipped classroom is an emerging strategy for the delivery of technical threshold content within tertiary engineering programs. In this study, we measure the effect that the approach has on the immediate and ongoing academic success of four cohorts of engineering dynamics students in New Zealand. Two cohorts (N = 865) received traditional lectures and two cohorts (N = 123) received a flipped classroom delivery. Both the Wilcoxon ranksum and the Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests noted a lack of significant contrasts across the performance in the first year dynamics class due to the teaching approach used (p > 0.05). In a follow-on dynamics class, N = 303 students previously undertook traditional lectures and N = 35 previously undertook flipped classrooms. When follow-on marks were compared across groups, there were no statistically significant differences observed across those that took the foundational class via traditional or flipped teaching approaches. This outcome implies that the flipped approach has a negligible effect on student academic achievement. However, these outcomes must be considered in context of the qualitative benefits of the flipped classroom approach.