Gender, prior knowledge, and the impact of a flipped linear algebra course for engineers over multiple years

Abstract

Background Research shows that active pedagogies could play an important role in achieving more equitable outcomes for diverse groups of students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Although flipped classes are a popular active methodology, there is a lack of high‐quality studies assessing their impact in ecologically valid settings and exploring how outcomes are related to gender and to prior education. Purpose This paper presents two modified replications of an experimental study investigating the impact of the flipped class approach on students' achievement in a large, first‐year class in an engineering bachelor's degree. Methodology We added a new strand, progressively flipped over 3 years, to eight parallel strands of a high‐stakes mandatory linear algebra course for engineers. The study followed a replicated‐between‐subjects design, with students in the flipped strand learning the same material as those in the other strands and taking the same final exam. Results Our results demonstrate that the flipped format did not have any significant impact on students' achievement compared to traditional lecturing. However, both replications in the flipped condition show a reduced attainment gap for women and students with less prior knowledge in mathematics. Conclusion While the flipped class seems to have weaker effects on learning than other active methodologies, the evidence in this study indicates that it may have an impact on reducing the attainment gap between different groups of students. It may therefore be particularly interesting to consider in efforts to achieve more equitable outcomes for women and where students have heterogeneous educational backgrounds.

Factors Affecting Bachelors of Engineering and Technology Academic Performance in Teaching English for Special Purposes: Corpus Approach and Terminological Units

“…Foreign studies devoted to the analysis of sex and age characteristics in the learning process (Hirnstein et al, 2019;Hardebolle et al, 2022;Fényes, 2014;Abioye et al, 2019) specify that the existing differences between male and female students can manifest themselves at the cognitive, behavioral and physical levels. In particular, the process of learning English brings the properties of memory and cognitive activity of students to the forefront (Bećirović et al, 2021), which are inextricably linked with their age characteristics.…”

Mathematics education research on algebra over the last two decades: quo vadis?

“…In accordance with our findings in Section 6.6, early algebra and its core notions of functional and algebraic thinking remain pertinent up to date. Another striking observation can be made regarding the cluster of affective learning variables: While beliefs and self-efficacy can be mainly located in the years 2016 and older, the research on the role that gender partakes in algebra education seems highly topical (Hardebolle et al, 2022;Sproesser et al, 2022;Geary et al, 2023).…”