Flipped Classroom: Introductory Physics

Flipped classroom is the pedagogy behind the redesign of these two courses, which can also be tailored to a Hybrid-online format. Students watch, listen, and interact with online content on their own time and come better prepared to take more active roles in class discussion, group work, and problem solving practices. The method allows instructors to use the precious class-time for more demanding cognitive tasks: tackling difficult problems, working in groups, peer instruction, researching, collaborating, crafting and creating. We utilized SmartPhysics multimedia online course content developed at the University of Illinois.<br /><br /> We compared the learning, attitudes, and experiences of students in flipped classes with the traditional lecture sections in a controled research study. Our research indicates that students in the flipped class overall did better than control group. In addition, student attitudes regarding the course and online material were very positive. They enjoyed the flexibility associated with the online prelectures, felt they were easy to use, and found presentations and the examples to be effective in helping them to learn physics.