To start answering the question “to flip or not to flip?”, the first step should be: does it work?

The educational literature seems to indicate that yes, flipped classroom does work. First of all, active learning works and it helps increasing student performances also in the STEM disciplines. See Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014).

Among the active learning techniques in general, educational research seems to support the educational benefits of flipped classroom in particular. In a recent article (2014), published in The European Journal of Open, Distance, and E-Learning, Kurtz, Tsimerman and Steiner-Lavi affirmed that “The students reported that watching videos between lessons enhanced interest, alleviated boredom, and enriched the learning”. (Kurtz, G., Tsimerman, A. and Steiner-Lavi, O. 2014)

Also the American Society for Engineering Education, in 2013, published a paper titled “The Flipped Classroom: A Survey of the Research”. “This paper provides a comprehensive survey of prior and ongoing research of the flipped classroom. Studies are characterized on several dimensions. Among others, these include the type of in-class and out-of-class activities, the measures used to evaluate the study, and methodological characteristics for each study. Results of this survey show that most studies conducted to date explore student perceptions and use single-group study designs. Reports of student perceptions of the flipped classroom are somewhat mixed, but are generally positive overall. Students tend to prefer in-person lectures to video lectures, but prefer interactive classroom activities over lectures. Anecdotal evidence suggests that student learning is improved for the flipped compared to traditional classroom. However, there is very little work investigating student learning outcomes objectively.” Bishop, J. L., & Verleger, M. A. (2013).

Now let’s move to your personal reflection on your teaching and learning experiences and, afterward, to flipped classroom experiences thanks to our testimonials.