Applying Structured Computer-Assisted Collaborative Concept Mapping to Flipped Classroom

Flipped classroom is the most innovative instructional method nowadays, and it has become an instructional model which the global education circle pays great attention to. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of structured computer-assisted collaborative concept mapping on student learning performance and motivation when it is used as an in-class auxiliary tool for flipped classroom teaching. This study adopts a quasi-experimental design to compare teaching strategies of two groups. One group uses the traditional flipped classroom teaching in which students exercise and discuss questions in class; another group uses the flipped classroom teaching that utilizes structured computer-assisted collaborative concept mapping and discusses misconceptions. The experimental course length is three hours per week for six weeks, totaling 18 hours. Participants are 114 students from a private university's restaurant and hospitality management department in central-Taiwan. The experiment results show that flipped classroom teaching strategy is helpful for enhancing students' learning motivation and improving their academic achievements; secondly using structured computer-assisted collaborative concept mapping as an auxiliary strategy for flipped classroom teaching is more effective in enhancing student learning motivation and achievements compared to a traditional exercise and discussion strategy.