Advancing the understanding of the flipped classroom approach with students' perceptions of the learning environment: variation between academic disciplines

Authors

  • Hilary Ng Hong Kong Metropolitan University
  • Paul Lam The Chinese University of Hong Kong

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi24.852

Keywords:

flipped classroom, academic disciplines, learning environment, student evaluation

Abstract

Abundant research supports the benefits of the flipped classroom approach on learning outcomes. Yet how students evaluate the flipped learning environment remains largely unknown. The present study aims to investigate 1) the students’ perceptions of their flipped learning and 2) whether disciplinary differences can be observed in students’ perceptions. Drawing upon the theoretical framework outlined in Brame (2013), our findings illustrated that students (N = 407) from different disciplines do vary their evaluation of the flipped learning environment. Those whose academic disciplines related to the application of knowledge evaluated the four components – exposure, incentive, assessment, and activities – more positively than those whose academic disciplines focus more on theoretical exploration. It is noteworthy that how subject knowledge is developed does not influence perception of the flipped learning environment. Such findings can supplement the traditional outcome-based approach of flipped classroom research by understanding the learning environment. All in all, the findings can point to practical and theoretical implications for designing a flipped classroom environment, highlighting the needs in designing the learning environment.

Author Biographies

Hilary Ng, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Hilary K. Y. Ng is an Assistant Professor at School of Education and Languages, Hong Kong Metropolitan University (formerly known as The Open University of Hong Kong). She is continuously developing her expertise across social psychology, cross-cultural psychology, educational science, and educational technology. As a multi-disciplinary scholar, her recent work has been published in numerous SSCI- and SCOPUS-indexed journals.

Paul Lam, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Paul Lai Chuen Lam is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has extensive interest and experience in teaching and learning principles, case-based teaching and learning, web-assisted teaching and learning, and evaluation of eLearning and mLearning. He also has experience in designing educational tools. uReply (http://web.ureply.mobi) is a classroom student response system developed under his supervision.

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Published

08-09-2022

How to Cite

Ng, H. and Lam, P. (2022) “Advancing the understanding of the flipped classroom approach with students’ perceptions of the learning environment: variation between academic disciplines”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (24). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi24.852.

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Papers