The flipped classroom in further education: literature review and case study

Abstract

The flipped classroom seeks to remove didactic instruction from the classroom and deliver it via electronic videos outside of the classroom, leaving contact time free for more interactive and engaging teaching and learning activities. This paper has two distinct aims: (1) to conduct a literature review of published UK-based ‘flipped classroom’ studies and (2) to contribute to this field of study. The paper will show that there have been many published scholarly pieces on the flipped classroom in countries such as the USA, detailing flipped studies in both compulsory schooling and higher education. However, at the time of writing there have been no published papers concerning an implementation of the flipped classroom in the UK further education sector. In order to contribute to this gap in the field, the findings from a small-scale flipped classroom project based in a further education college will be presented and discussed. The study was conducted in the 2012/13 academic year whilst the author was undertaking initial teacher training. This case study yielded significant benefits to learners through adopting this approach. In addition to charting the effects of a flipped classroom upon attainment and engagement, the paper will discuss the often under-represented staff experience of flipping the classroom.

Keywords:

• further education
• flipped classroom
• inverted classroom

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.