Evaluating Student Learning Outcomes across Three Teaching Modalities Using the Same Set of Flipped Classroom Materials

• Published in: Journal of chemical education 2024-11, Vol.101 (11), p.4790-4797
• Main Authors: Sizemore, Anne R., Heiss, Elise M., Corcoran, Shannon K., Snook, Jillian, McCue, Jillian L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CAI; Chemistry; Classrooms; College students; Colleges & universities; Computer assisted instruction; Course Content; COVID-19; Electronic Learning; Elementary school students; Flipped classroom; Format; Instructional Material Evaluation; Learning outcomes; Organic Chemistry; Outcomes of Education; Pandemics; Performance evaluation; Science education; Student attitudes; Students; Teaching methods
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00607

Upon the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to online learning caused a great deal of uncertainty for students and instructors as to how course material would be adequately delivered and assessed. In preparation for the 2020–2021 academic year, three professors at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA, each contributed one-third of the course content to a shared set of flipped classroom materials for General Chemistry I and II. The course materials were designed to be versatile and applicable to each modality offered: online, hybrid, and traditional face-to-face. This arrangement provided for a natural experiment to measure the effects of course modality on student learning outcomes independent of the professor during the same term. Student performance was evaluated quantitatively by comparing exam grades, and student perceptions were evaluated qualitatively using student survey data. We evaluated the data collected in the fall 2020 and spring 2021 to determine (1) if exam scores differed by modality in General Chemistry I when students were assigned to a course section; (2) if exam scores differed by modality in General Chemistry II when students had a choice in course section; (3) how the students rated their experience in a flipped classroom format; and (4) whether or not they preferred hybrid or online-only over a traditional course format. There was no statistically significant difference in exam grades between modalities in both General Chemistry I and II, although students generally preferred hybrid and traditional courses over those delivered fully online.