Adaptation of a conventional flipped course to an online flipped format during the Covid-19 pandemic: Student learning performance and engagement

Abstract

The Covid-19 outbreak has brought the whole world to a standstill, forcing schools and universities to move online immediately. The abrupt change has led to a general fear of a drop in the quality of education due to the loss of physical interaction. Against this background, the present study describes how we managed the crisis by adapting a conventional flipped course to a fully online flipped course, using the community of inquiry conceptual framework. The quantitative analyses reveal that online flipped course participants performed as well as their counterparts in the conventional flipped learning format, and that students’ interest levels remained constantly high throughout the online flipped classes. The qualitative analyses of the students’ survey and interview data suggest five key factors that promote their engagement in the online flipped classes. The findings of this study provide practical guidelines for instructors who are interested in the online flipped classroom approach.

Keywords:

• Fully online flipped classroom approach
• learning performance
• student engagement

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chengyuan Jia

Chengyuan Jia is a PhD student at the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests lie in online and blended learning, and technology assisted language learning.

Khe Foon Hew

Khe Foon Hew is an associate professor at the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. His research interests focus on understanding what engages people to learn in blended- and online learning environments.

Shurui Bai

Shurui Bai is a PhD student at the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests lie in gamification in education, student engagement, flipped classroom.

Weijiao Huang

Weijiao Huang is a PhD student at the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. She specializes in the field of online learning and technology-enhanced flipped learning. A considerable portion of her recent research interest focuses on the application of chatbot in education.