Evaluating flipped classrooms with respect to threshold concepts learning in undergraduate engineering

This paper reports on the initial findings from a two year (2015-2016) investigation of the impact of the flipped classroom on student learning of threshold concepts (TCs) in a large introductory undergraduate engineering course at a New Zealand university. As part of the flipped class intervention trialed over a three-week period, a series of short themed video lectures were developed as a replacement for the traditional weekly lectures. The weekly practical lab session were redesigned to incorporate small-group problem solving tasks and assessment. Data from student surveys, interviews, class observations, and video analytics were collected and analyzed. Findings revealed that students were familiar with online videos as a learning resource; they had positive past experiences with using them and were willing to participate in a flipped classroom. However, most students did not watch all assigned weekly videos, including ones crucial to their TC learning. There is indication they thought learning strategies involving interactions with real persons to be more useful to their learning. This suggests that current strategies for motivating students to access and engage with the prepared videos need to be revised to maximize students' learning opportunities.