Flipped Classroom Approach in Undergraduate Medical Education: The Need of the Hour

Abstract

Introduction: In the era of changing medical education system, our teaching methods are not able to cope up with ongoing evolution of medical education. There is a definite need of introducing newer techniques of teaching-learning methods to improve the learning process to higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Aim: To explore the perceptions and attitudes of final year undergraduate medical students and teachers in paediatrics towards Flipped Classroom (FCR) model. Materials and Methods: The present prospective observational study was conducted at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences Sevagram, a rural tertiary care institute of central Maharashtra, India from December 2020 to November 2021. The full class strength of 100 undergraduate final year medical students and all eight faculty members participated to conduct FCR sessions on Paediatric infectious diseases. Prereading study material in the form of videos and reading materials was provided for asynchronous learning, while classroom time was spent on solving problem-based questions based on “think-pair-share” with the faculty as facilitators. Student and faculty feedback was recorded via a five-point Likert’s scale. Consequently, small-group discussions were carried out to know the students’ reflections. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 software. Results: The students showed overall encouraging response to the flipped classroom method with active participation. Eighty two students (82%) were happy about the content of the reading material and time spent on preclass activity. More than 75% of students agreed it to be more interactive with peers and teachers and that it enhanced active learning with development of interest in the given subjects. Seventy-five students (75%) gave positive responses towards the utility of flipped model for future classes as it helped in self directed learning. The faculty members also enjoyed this activity, though they found it time-consuming. Conclusion: FCR is an effective way to motivate and enhance active and self-directed learning. Unlike didactic lectures, it helps the students in conceptual understanding of the subject and makes the teaching-learning experience enjoyable.

Keywords

• inverted classroom
• learning strategies
• self-directed learning