The relationship between the flipped classroom and critical thinking, academic performance, student perceptions, and student evaluations in an introductory psychology course

For more than two centuries, traditional college instruction in America has relied upon the use of the lecture as the model for the college classroom learning environment (Christensen & Eyring, 2011; Costin, 1972; Woodard, 2011). However, criticism of the lecture has led to the development of alternative instruction models (Dillenbourg, 1999a; Prince, 2004). The flipped classroom is one of these models. The flipped classroom flips the traditional model by moving content typically delivered through a lecture to an online environment and using class time for learning activities that are active and collaborative (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015b). Despite many advocates for using the flipped classroom model, there has been little research on how effective the model is at generating desired student outcomes. Understanding the viability of the flipped classroom for promoting learning is necessary if college educators are going to utilize the model. This study considers the flipped classroom’s effectiveness in three areas: academic performance, critical thinking, and evaluation and perception of the learning environment. Additional consideration was given to the relationship between student perception and academic performance. This mixed methods study used a quasi-experimental, within subjects design. The population was comprised of students from two sections of a General Psychology course at a private, liberal arts university during one full fall semester. Treatments were counterbalanced so that each group of participants experienced the models in a different order. Individual qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 students who were recruited from the original sample