Comparison of flipped classroom versus traditional didactic lectures among medical students: A mixed method study

Abstract

Background: Didactic lectures are one of the commonly used instructional methods used for curriculum delivery in medical colleges. These lectures have a limited scope for interactions. Flipped classroom constitutes both an instructional approach and a form of blended learning, designed to enhance student engagement and comprehension. This intentional shift to a learner-centric model allocates initial exposure to new subjects beyond traditional classroom settings, thus enabling classroom time to be dedicated to in-depth exploration of topics, fostering significant learning experiences. Hence, a study was conducted to compare the academic scores of students taught in the flipped method versus traditional classroom and to assess the perception of students regarding the flipped classroom. Methodology: One hundred students were divided into two Batches A and B of 50 students each. Topic one was taught, by the flipped classroom method for Batch A and by the traditional method for Batch B. Topic two was taught by flipped classroom for Batch B and Batch A had traditional class. A multiple-choice question test was done for all the batches at the end of the classes. Perception of students regarding flipped classrooms was assessed through a prevalidated questionnaire on a Likert scale. Results: The mean value of the academic scores of the tests conducted was higher after flipped classroom sessions compared to traditional teaching sessions with a significant P < 0.001. Analysis of the open-ended questions revealed that the flipped class had advantages of in terms of better student involvement. Conclusions: Flipped classroom can be an effective student-centered teaching strategy when properly planned and implemented for higher education. In medical colleges, it can be incorporated as one of the teaching–learning methodologies to teach must know topics.

Keywords

• didactic lectures
• flipped classroom
• self directed learning
• teaching methodology