What are students’ opinions of ‘Flipped learning’ in secondary science?

Abstract

Flipped learning has emerged in recent years as an alternative method of teaching. The premise of Flipped learning is that students learn new material at home, and then use lesson time to tackle problems and interact with the subject matter. The rationale behind this is that students get more time with a teacher when they are solving problems or applying knowledge in the classroom, so teachers can help build higher levels of understanding. It also allows the lesson to be more interactive, as less time is spent teaching new material. Whilst many recent studies have concentrated on how Flipped learning is used at university level teaching, I was eager to undertake my enquiry on Flipped learning at secondary school. Having spoken at length to teachers about their opinions on Flipped learning, I was keen to discover what students’ opinions were. This enquiry made use of a questionnaire, and interview with sixth form biology students at an all-girls grammar school who are taught via Flipped learning. Student opinions were largely positive, with students expressing being able to learn at their own pace, more interactive lessons and being better prepared for lesson time among the benefits of Flipped learning.