A flipped classroom in communication systems: Student perception and performance assessments

Abstract

Flipped classroom is an emerging course delivery method, where the traditional in-class and out-of-class activities flip places. The lectures are given out-of-class with electronic resources and in-class time is reserved for group activities and discussion with the instructor. In this study, we present our implementation of a flipped classroom in a senior level undergraduate engineering course. An extensive perception analysis was carried out with anonymous surveys and face-to-face interviews with students. Performance analysis of the flipped class was carried out by comparing the achievement level in the course learning outcomes of previous years’ traditional classes and recent year’s flipped class. The out-of-class lectures were implemented as machine-voice-narrated presentations. The effect of machine voice on the flipped classroom is also examined. Students’ perception and reaction to various aspects of the flipped class are documented. Performance analysis showed a significant improvement in one category of course learning outcomes. Student perception was positive overall.

Effects of implementing flipped classroom elements and dynamic in‐class discussion on student performance

“…When the students were asked if the activities in class helped them understand the lecture better, only 1.7% of students strongly disagreed with this statement, whereas approximately 43.3% of students indicated “agree” and 11.7% indicated “strongly agree” (Table 2). Note that 81.4% of students liked the in‐class group discussions in this study, aligning with findings from previous studies since students like to interact in class and learn from discussion with peers (Kim, Kim, Khera, & Getman, 2014; Öncel & Kara, 2018). In another study, the students considered an inverted classroom model in a general science course as “fun” and “enthusiastic” with scores of over 7 out of 10 points (Jeong, González‐Gómez, & Cañada‐Cañada, 2016).…”

“…This also helped free up class time for peer collaboration rather than instruction. Furthermore, group activities in class not only engaged students in discussion but it also provided greater interaction in the classroom (Ambrose et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2014; Öncel & Kara, 2018).…”

On the design and effectiveness of Simulink‐based educational material for a communication systems course

“…A comprehensive analysis of the students' perspectives and performances related to the developed materials is carried out. The results are analyzed by statistical methods, that is, t test which is widely used in the literature to analyze statistical changes of assessments [12,19].…”

“…Once the published works are examined from the effectiveness point of view, it is concluded vaguely that the performance of the students in courses in which these tools are utilized can be increased greatly, and students can better understand the abovementioned concepts [1,12,16,18,19]. However, the level of effectiveness of developed tools in learning and teaching, that is, the effects on the students' performance have not been yet extensively studied.…”

“…The feedback group contributed to the development stage of the materials, both individually and as a team, on weekly basis activities including face-to-face interviews, group discussions, written feedback, and material testing. Next, in the effectiveness measurements, both qualitative and quantitative research methods including interviews, anonymous questionnaires, performance in laboratory quizzes, and university-wide surveys, as reported by Oncel and Kara [18,19], were applied to the enrolled students throughout the semester.…”