Academic Achievement In Flipped Classrooms

Since the inception of the flipped classroom model, the teaching pedagogy has become increasingly popular in both K-12 and collegiate classrooms. In a traditional classroom model, students become familiar in class with lectures and complete additional practice work at home in order to iron out any misunderstandings of the material. The flipped classroom model reverses roles with students becoming initially familiar with the class materials at home and then engaging in further practice in class with the teacher and fellow students. Although this teaching method is still in its infancy, the results so far reveal the flipped classroom model significantly improves a student’s ability to retain and master material. This study seeks to analyze a variety of different studies focusing on K-12 implementation of the flipped classroom model in order to determine overall effectiveness of the model. This study will use meta-analysis methodology to come to a better understanding of the success of the flipped classroom model across a variety of different sample sizes, populations, and research methodologies. While this study will not add any original field data to the study of the flipped classroom model, it will provide a singular source analyzing existing data to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the pedagogical model. Running Head: FLIPPED CLASSROOMS 4 Purpose As the flipped classroom model has becoming increasingly popular in K-12 education in recent years, it is important to conduct a comprehensive analysis of its effectiveness across a wide range of K-12 classroom settings. While there is existing literature regarding experimental, quasi-experimental, and case study analyses of the flipped classroom, there are few metaanalyses assessing the effectiveness of the pedagogical model in terms of student engagement with the material and overall student achievement. Therefore, this study seeks to consolidate a variety of different flipped classroom studies at the K-12 level in order to ascertain a better understanding of the utility and effectiveness of the flipped classroom in comparison to more traditional teaching models in common use. Running Head: FLIPPED CLASSROOMS 5 Rationale for the Study A variety of studies have shown the flipped classroom model is an effective pedagogical model that improves student achievement and success in comparison to the traditional classroom model (Hwang, Lai, & Wang, 2015). Further, as the flipped classroom model has gained popularity in recent years, conducting more studies of its effectiveness across a variety of different classroom settings is important to better assess the benefits and drawbacks of the flipped classroom model. In the technological age in which we live in today, many of the teaching paradigms common for decades are rapidly becoming obsolete. As Fulton (2012) points out in her analysis, the flipped classroom model is more suitable for an academic classroom with access to significantly superior communication and information technologies than a traditional classroom model which generally does not use new technologies to full potential. As the foundation of the flipped classroom rests upon these new technologies, better understanding the effectiveness of this pedagogical model can provide meaningful insight into a teaching model readily adaptable to the rapidly changing technological world existing today. Running Head: FLIPPED CLASSROOMS 6