Activating learning in engineering education using ICT and the concept of ‘Flipping the classroom’

ABSTRACT

This case study trialled the introduction of a student-response system (Top Hat) in a third-year engineering Fluid Mechanics course (n = 44) to improve student engagement, motivation and cognition. It was recognised that for the potential benefits of student-response systems (SRSs) to be fully realised, more time must be allocated for student engagement and the active learning components of the course. In order to allow sufficient time to fully engage with the SRSs and other classroom activities, traditional lectures were revised and the classroom format was flipped. This paper presents the initial case study results focusing on the use of SRSs. Overall, the new flipped lecture and SRS teaching format demonstrated a substantial increase in the level of student engagement, motivation, active learning and attendance compared to previous cohorts. However, the increased levels of engagement did not appear to reflect on any large increase in students’ individual grades.

KEYWORDS:

• Flipped learning
• student-response system
• active learning in engineering education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Terry Lucke has been involved in the civil engineering and construction industries for over 20 years. During this time he has had many years’ experience on all types of residential and commercial construction. Most of his professional engineering experience involved the design and construction of residential and commercial developments. From 2006 to 2009, Dr Lucke undertook a PhD in Engineering (Commercial Roof Drainage Systems) at the University of South Australia where he taught various civil, mechanical and construction engineering subjects. Dr Lucke joined USC in 2010 as a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering.

Dr Peter Dunn has broad expertise in the application of statistics in a variety of fields, with publications in diverse areas that includes the teaching of statistics, health, ecology, agriculture and mathematical statistics. He has been nationally recognised as an innovative teacher and is actively engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning via research of his and his colleagues teaching and learning practices.

Dr Michael Christie has taught in both Australia and Sweden, mainly in the area of adult, vocational and tertiary teaching. From September 1999 to February 2013 he worked in Sweden, first at Chalmers where he was in charge of a teaching and learning centre, and then from 2010 at Stockholm University, where he was Sweden’s first Professor of Higher Education. He is now an Associate Professor in the School of Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, where he teaches Masters course and conducts research into active learning in Higher Education, the use of digital tools in teaching and learning, efficacious ways of supporting the PhD process and criteria referenced assessment.

ORCiD

Terry Lucke http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2144-6103

Peter K. Dunn http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0299-7169

Michael Christie http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0351-4990