Impact of Partially Flipped Instruction on Immediate and Subsequent Course Performance in a Large Undergraduate Chemistry Course

Conducted in two sections of an introductory chemistry course, the current study assesses the impact of a partially flipped course compared to traditional lectures on student academic performance, motivation, and perceptions. Although the partially flipped course had little impact on student final exam performance in the current course, it had an overall positive effect on student grades in a subsequent course with presence of interaction effect favoring students with lower high school GPA. By implication, the partially flipped course structure has the potential to bridge the achievement gap over time. Similarly, flipped instruction had an overall positive effect on end-of-quarter student motivation, and academically weaker students showed relatively higher motivation increases. Treatment students rated the flipped course much more positively regarding instructional clarity, instructor quality, and course quality. Compared to the student reflections received in our previous study, negative comments were much less in scope and severity in the current study, owing to a gentler approach for introducing flipped instruction. The gentler approach might allow student to adapt to the format over time. Additionally, greater accountability due to increased assignments of the pre-class work contributed to higher student preparation and improved perceptions.