Effectiveness of the Synchronous Online Flipped Classroom on Students’ Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The flipped classroom approach is a pedagogical method for students' active learning and engagement in learning activities. Many Construction Management (CM) educators have adopted this pedagogical method and confirmed its benefits in classroom teaching. However, the effectiveness of the flipped classroom model on students' learning in 100% synchronous online courses, specifically for CM education, is not reported. Considering a massive shift to virtual learning during the Pandemic, CM educators need to understand the feasibility and effectiveness of flipped classrooms for online courses, which is the focus of the current study. This paper initially presents the technologies and methods adopted in this study to transform two online CM courses into a flipped approach. Later, the flipped classroom model's effectiveness is assessed through student feedback. The results indicated a mixed response from the students regarding the effectiveness of the flipped classroom model over traditional teaching. Although around two-thirds of the student body recommend the flipped classroom model over conventional education, they now prefer conventional face-to-face teaching over the online flipped classroom. This mixed response may be due to the lethargy caused by complete remote learning in 2020 due to Covid-19.

Implementing Flipped Classroom in the Digital Learning Environment

“…But unlike the usual flipped classroom approach, students do not meet face-to-face, but rather online. Although Shim and Inti (2022) find that most students find the online flipped classroom method appropriate, they still prefer the traditional classroom. It is probably due to the lethargy caused by constant online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures.…”