Impact of student agency on learning performance and learning experience in a flipped classroom

Abstract

The efficacy of the flipped classroom model largely depends on the specifications of its design and implementation, and one important specification to consider is student agency. With the purpose of prescribing the optimal level of student agency for the flipped classroom, this study conducted a repeated‐measures experimental design to compare the effects of three levels of student agency in an undergraduate flipped course with 43 students. The empirical results revealed that student agency had a significant impact on students' academic performance and perceived learning experience. Moreover, a low level of student agency appeared to induce superior performance and evaluation ratings from the students and counter the influence of personality and self‐study time. The findings are expected to inform the design and implementation of flipped courses and extend our understanding of student‐centred learning to the context of the flipped classroom.

Can the flipped classroom model improve students’ academic performance and training satisfaction in Higher Education instructional media design courses?

“…The technology‐enhanced FC was effective, engaging and facilitated active learning better than the conventional instructional setting, which is consistent with previous findings (Blair et al ., ; Chuang et al ., ; Luo et al ., ). Students were highly satisfied with their training and maintained a positive attitude during their training sessions (Costley & Lange, ; Long et al ., ; Thai et al ., ).…”

“…Although many studies demonstrated students’ preference for FCs, positive attitudes alone may not be sufficiently compelling evidence for educators to convert to a FC approach (Chen et al ., ). Due to lack of conclusive findings, further empirical evidence about the effect of FC on academic performance and student satisfaction is needed (Chuang et al ., ; Luo et al ., ; O’Flaherty & Phillips, ). This study investigates whether a FC can impact learning effectiveness for instructional media design courses, leading to better academic performance and training satisfaction by comparing a flipped and a traditional class.…”

“…There is common agreement that a FC as a pedagogical strategy is likely to foster student-centred, active learning by giving students more time to work together and focus on tasks that cognitively demand and require higher-order knowledge and cognitive thinking skills (Long, Cummins, & Waugh, 2016;McLaughlin et al, 2014). Despite a substantial body of research that has presented the educational potential of a FC in various Higher Education (HE) subjects, such as information systems (Davies, Dean, & Ball, 2013), teaching and learning theories (Luo, Yang, Xue, & Zuo, 2018), or applied English for vocational education (Chuang, Weng, & Chen, 2018), the domain of instructional media design courses has not yet been explicitly researched. There have been several small-sample studies, but most of them only address the educational value of the flipped instructional model (DeLozier & Rhodes, 2016).…”

“…There have been several small-sample studies, but most of them only address the educational value of the flipped instructional model (DeLozier & Rhodes, 2016). Although many researchers have examined specific activities and practices frequently utilised in the FC (Chuang et al, 2018;Luo et al, 2018;Thai, De Wever, & Valcke, 2017), little attention has been given to how student academic performance and training satisfaction can be influenced by a FC approach.…”

“…For instance, several studies (Blair, Maharaj, & Primus, 2016;Davies et al, 2013) have noticed no significant or only a slight difference on students' academic performance between the flipped and traditional instructional models, while in other cases FC was found to produce better results (cf. Guy & Marquis, 2016;Long et al, 2016;Luo et al, 2018). Additionally, many faculty members are still hesitant or reluctant to adopt FC, since there are numerous factors that can make switching from a traditional to a FC setting a frustrating process (DeLozier & Rhodes, 2016;Luo et al, 2018;O'Flaherty & Phillips, 2015).…”