Application of the flipped classroom model to stimulate university students’ learning with online education

Abstract

This work sets out the results of a teaching innovation project applying the flipped classroom model in the Knowledge of Mathematics module on a bachelor’s degree in primary education over two consecutive years at a university that exclusively uses online teaching. This model is used with the aim of stimulating the students’ working methods and improve their intrinsic motivation. 

The research evaluates the impact of the flipped classroom on academic performance in the subject and collects information on student satisfaction with the development of the experiment. This is a pioneering study as it analyses learning outcomes with mathematical content in university-level classes delivered online synchronously on a permanent basis and not owing to exceptional circumstances such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

To do this, specific videos were developed, which students had to watch, with various practical exercises embedded in them to be done before classes. The marks from these exercises along with the final grades for the course are considered to assess the learning outcomes throughout the semester. 

The results obtained were clearly positive both in performance and in terms of students’ motivation and awareness of their own learning process, as well as the contribution of this proposal to improving their teaching–learning process, essentially through greater student involvement in and commitment to the subject.