A study on the effect of lecture length in the flipped classroom

Date

2016-08-12

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Abstract

Flipped teaching is the reversal of the traditional teaching process by introducing students to lecture material outside of class, most often using a video format, and performing problem-solving during face-to-face class time with the guidance of the instructor. In this study, two Honors General Chemistry II courses were taught in the flipped format and students were allowed to choose between two methods of watching lectures and completing homework to evaluate the effect of lecture length on student performance. Students were given the option to watch video lectures continuously in a single view and complete assigned homework afterward (“Long”) or to watch the lectures in sections partitioned by answering relevant homework problems (“Short”). Lecture watching data and class-based grades were collected for analysis, and Likert and open-ended questionnaires were administered to collect student opinions and information on study habits. Four lecture-watching groups were identified during lecture data analysis: Long viewers, Changelings, Short viewers, and Long-Pause viewers. Changelings switched lecture types during the semester, most often from the short to the long version. Long-Pause viewers selected the long version and reported watching the long version, yet paused the videos as often as Short viewers. Short viewers watched the fewest number of video lectures and performed statistically poorer than the Long and Long-Pause groups in academic achievement. Long, Changeling, and Long-Pause viewers displayed no differences in achievement despite Long viewers watching fewer hours of video. The findings of the present study indicated that students learning in disjointed segments did not learn lecture material as effectively as students who learned material in one continuous segment. Students learned best when they decided when they needed to pause the videos for their own comprehension.

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Keywords

Flipped classroom, lecture length

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