Flipped learning, or the flipped classroom, is an instructional model that has gained a large following with educators in recent times. In a flipped classroom, traditional activities that happen in class, such as the delivery of instructional content, lectures, and reading, are moved outside of the classroom. In a flipped model, these experiences are replaced with classroom activities that typically include group projects, practice on problems, or performing experiments. In short, a flipped-classroom moves teacher-centered instruction out of the classroom and replaces it with more classroom student-centered activities.

Background

Several academic texts and publications, such as Alison King’s 1993 From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side and Eric Mazur’s 1997 book Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual, created some of the first instances of inverting the traditional classroom approach. However, flipped learning did not become part of the mainstream educational discussion until several notable individuals began publicizing their efforts. Salman Khan started to record instructional videos for a distant family member in 2004, but his videos became widespread and eventually formalized into what is known today as the Khan Academy. In 2007, two Woodland Park High School chemistry teachers, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, openly documented their efforts to “flip” their science classes, recording videos of their efforts and writing a book, Flip Your Classroom. In Bergmann and Sams’ book, they not only discuss the case for flipping a classroom but to do so in a way that promotes mastery learning. According to the book, a flipped mastery classroom is implemented as a second phase after the initial implementation of the flipped classroom, with the key distinction being that students work at their own pace, thereby exerting greater ownership of their learning.

​Meta-Analysis​

Despite the increase in popularity of educational videos and other resources developed by teachers, a lack of consistent, quantitative data on the efficacy of flipped learning was noted by researchers Torstein Låg and Rannveig Grøm Sæle​ from Norway. By conducting a meta-analysis of several existing studies, many of which reported attitudinal perceptions and narrative accounts, the researchers were able to bring greater focus to the actual impact of flipped learning initiatives on student learning.

A total of 5866 records from databases were initially reviewed for the study. After filtering these studies for strict eligibility criteria, such as containing sufficient statistics and including at least one outcome measure, a total of 271 studies were accepted for the meta-analysis. From this investigation, the researchers determined that students learning under a flipped classroom model scored more than one-third of a standard deviation higher as measured by exam scores. However, perhaps surprisingly, the meta-analysis only revealed a slight increase in student satisfaction and pass rates. These observations held true across different subject disciplines, although the effect was more pronounced for the humanities subjects versus STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subjects.

This study is significant in that it is the first known meta-analysis of the flipped classroom instructional model to date. In general terms, the study confirmed that student academic performance, disposition, and pass rates are slightly higher for students learning under a flipped model. However, the meta-analysis noted a large degree of heterogeneity in the different, suggesting a significant degree of variance in how educators implement flipped classroom models.

Låg, Torstein & Sæle, Rannveig. (2019). Does the Flipped Classroom Improve Student Learning and Satisfaction? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. AERA Open. 5. 233285841987048. 10.1177/2332858419870489.