Usefulness and Student Preferences for Interactive Pre‐Lecture Modules as Part of Flipped Instruction in Biomechanics
Authors: Domire Zachary J , Rider Patrick M 
Published: November 2023

Introduction

The pre‐lecture model in this study involves “flipping” the traditional model, where students are presented lectures as homework and use class instruction to do applied assignments under the instructor's supervision. Research in educational literature supports the use of a flipped approach. Flipped lectures have been shown to be preferred by students compared to traditional lectures and engage students with diverse learning styles. However, most lecture portions of flipped instruction models are passive learning. The objective of this study is to investigate interactive pre‐lectures in an undergraduate biomechanics course.

Methods

Traditional thinking in educational research is that student attention spans are 10–20 minutes during lectures. However, empirical study shows that students’ attention wanders over an even shorter time frame. Therefore, we developed pre‐lecture modules that consist of short video segments (between 2–5 minutes in length), along with Socratic style questions related to the video content. Videos were embedded into online quizzes. Students were able to progress to the next video segment by first answering the questions related to the previous video. This allowed the quizzes in the course management system to be used as an assessment tool to determine A) if the students completed the assigned pre‐lecture and B) to what extent each pre‐lecture topic was understood. Students were surveyed on their preferences for these pre‐lectures versus standard instruction and the usefulness of these pre‐lectures as a study aid.

Results

Survey results did not show a preference for the flipped instruction model, but did show that the students found the pre‐lecture models to be useful (Table 1).

Conclusions

The results of this study are contrary to past investigations and do not show a preference for a pre‐lecture model. It is important to note that there also was not an overall preference for a traditional format either. The interactive nature of the pre‐lecture models forced the students to spend at least 1–2 hours studying for a course topic. Based upon past data we have collected on typical study habits, this is considerably more than students typically spend prior to each class. This increased demand may drive the preferences of the students who do not prefer this model. The usefulness of this approach was supported by the responses indicating that asking questions during the problem solving was helpful and by the consensus being that referring back to the pre‐lectures was useful for studying. Future study will attempt to quantify study time and will seek to examine effectiveness with targeted exam questions.

Support or Funding Information

East Carolina University Teaching Grant

Student Survey Responses

Statement/question
Strongly Agree/Agree
Neutral
Disagree/Strongly Disagree

I would prefer to have more pre‐lecture content in this course.
30%
30%
40%

I prefer the pre‐lecture/in‐class problem solving format over traditional lecture/homework problems format.
40%
10%
50%

I found it helpful to be able to ask the professor questions while I solved problems in class
90%
10%
0%

The pre‐lecture content was a good study aid.
80%
10%
10%