A study by Russ Mumper, PhD, shows a significant improvement in learning outcomes after “flipping” his Basic Pharmaceutics II classroom. The results are the subject of “The Post-Lecture Classroom: How Will Students Fare?” published by The Atlantic magazine online September 13.
The flipped classroom is a teaching method designed to stimulate higher-level thinking and meaningful interactions in the classroom. Flipped classrooms move the traditional lecture outside of class and free up class time for faculty-student engagement and active learning. Instructors record and digitally publish lectures, and students view them before class. Class time is used for critical thinking, discussion, and active learning exercises.
“Step into any lecture hall and it’s obvious: Students are just not engaged,” said Mumper, vice dean and John McNeill Distinguished Professor.
“Instructors in today’s academic setting are losing the battle for our students’ attention, and we need to make a change. With innovative solutions like the flipped classroom, we have a real shot at improving our students’ engagement and performance, and our study proves it.”
With a $10,000 grant from Echo360, a team led by Mumper demonstrated that under the flipped-classroom approach students achieved better grades, were more engaged in class, and improved their application—rather than just recitation—of the course material.
The study tracked and compared data sets from three consecutive semesters of the first-year course Basic Pharmaceutics II, which covers the science of delivering drugs to the body. The first cohort experienced the traditional lecture method in 2011, while the 2012 and 2013 cohorts experienced the flipped model. The three cohorts comprised entirely different students.
The study, published online by the journal Academic Medicine, revealed that prerecorded, offline course material paired with interactive, in-class activities enhanced student performance and learning.
- Cumulative final exam performance rose five points from 80 percent in 2011 to 85.1 percent in 2013.
- Ninety-three percent of students agreed that the flipped course improved their understanding and application of the course’s key concepts.
- Ninety-one percent of students agreed that the flipped classroom format greatly enhanced their learning.
- Ninety-eight percent of students felt the knowledge and skills developed in the flipped course will be useful in real-world scenarios.
- Ninety-six percent felt confident in their ability to apply the skills developed in the flipped course.
- Attendance was noticeably higher.
Another paper from the team published online by the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education showed that almost 90 percent of students at satellite campuses preferred the flipped classroom format.
“One of the most notable outcomes of the new format was how engaged students were,” he says. “And this was only reinforced when they felt that their learning and ability to apply the new knowledge had improved.
“More important to me than their performance in the semester-long course was how the students perceived that I helped them prepare to become life-long learners and problem solvers in the subject matter of the course,” he says.
Mumper’s coauthors on both papers are lead author Jacqui McLaughlin, PhD; Mary Roth-McClurg, PharmD, MHS; Dylan Glatt; Nastaran Gharkholonarehe, PharmD; Chris Davidson, ME; LaToya Griffin, PhD; and Denise Esserman, PhD.