Taking Advantage of Flipped Learning

Gone are the days when Socrates’ students would sit at the feet of the master soaking up their lectures.  Students in the modern world prefer student-centered learning activities which promote critical thinking, collaboration, and active engagement.  Because students can access information on their own through technology and widely available education resources, instructors are no longer gatekeepers of knowledge. In contrast, instructors utilize their knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content to create intentional learning opportunities where students behave as active agents in their own education (Saubern et al., 2020). The Flipped Classroom (FC) Model is an effective student-centered method of learning which can be used in multiple ways.

Figure 1.

Flipped learning [AI-generated Image].

Note. “Flipped Learning” by Thompson, 2025, Canva AI Image Creator.

What is the Flipped Classroom (FC) Model?

Traditionally students learn content information from their instructor and then complete homework to practice concepts on their own.  Thus, most of the deep learning is expected to occur outside of class without the guidance and scaffolded support of an instructor.  However, beginning about 25 years ago, the FC Model gradually came into existence, and the approach entails students learning content prior to coming to class through recorded lectures, readings, and online videos (Agirman & Ercoskun, 2022). Class time is then dedicated to deeper learning activities such as peer collaboration, problem-solving, case studies, discussions, debates, experiments, simulations, and other hands-on activities.

Weighing Flipped Learning

The FC Model is preferable because the focus of instruction shifts from lower-level learning such as remembering and understanding information to higher-level learning such as application, analysis, evaluation, and creation of knowledge (Gonsalves, 2024). The FC Model is flexible, so it can be useful in hybrid, in-person, or online contexts. Some argue that learning in the FC Model is faster due to the technology used and that it can be more customized to the needs of the student (Jeet & Sahotra, 2025).

In this learning model, students must take full responsibility for the preparation they do prior to class to gain the most from activities done with other students. The FC Model can mean a feast or famine when it comes to learning gains because one of two outcomes typically occurs.  First, students may come to class with a strong foundational knowledge ready to learn more. In this case, students actually gain more from the learning activities than they would have from a lecture.  Secondly, students may arrive completely unknowledgeable about the basics because they have not done any pre-learning. Therefore, the second type of student will be unable to apply or analyze the information or contribute meaningfully to class discussions because they did not prepare themselves.  Although there is a risk of the second outcome, the responsibility for learning comes back to the student.  They must be motivated to make a conscious choice to learn.

Another benefit of the FC Model is that students can learn at their own pace, which is advantageous for differentiated learning, catching up following an absence, or for correcting misunderstanding (Jeet & Sahotra, 2025).  Students have access to all necessary learning materials instead of having to rely on the instructor to reveal the information to them.  Likewise, with a baseline knowledge, students ask more intelligent, thoughtful questions of the instructor which benefits fellow students as well. 

Al-Samarraie et al. (2020) systematically reviewed 85 studies and found that the FC Model leads to greater learning gains than traditional lecture-based classrooms.  The FC model also results in long-term retention of knowledge and improved critical thinking skills.  Similarly, students are more engaged and have a better attitude during learning when they are prepared for the activities.  Therefore, the FC Model is an approach instructors should consider implementing on a regular basis.    

Implementing FC Model in your classroom

Effective implementation of the FC Model may require more preparation on the instructor’s part.  To begin, all learning materials must be available to students in a learning management system that is known and predictable.  Clear due dates for preparation will increase student success.  In other words, students must be aware of the expectation that all content must be read or watched prior to a specific flipped learning activity.  Furthermore, instructors must reinforce the need for preparation by requiring students to use the information they were told to read or watch by the advised deadline. For example, pop quizzes on Kahoot!, Quizizz, or Blooket are interactive, gamified opportunities for students to demonstrate learning and reward student preparation.

Flipped classrooms increase student interaction with instructors and other students (Al-Samarraie et al., 2020).  Therefore, you may consider implementing collaborative activities following student content preparation such as:

• classroom debates

• peer teaching activities

• peer review writing sessions

• Socratic discussions

• role plays

• concept maps

• fishbowl discussions

• creation of multimedia presentations or videos

• reading circles

  
  

Conclusion

The Flipped Classroom (FC) Model is an evidence-based practice which is beneficial to students.  Although younger students may find the independent study challenging, we can scaffold the acquisition of these skills by beginning with short preparatory assignments initially and then gradually increasing the expected workload.  Older high school students should be capable of preparing for reversed learning activities with clearly stated expectations and deadlines.  Undoubtedly, adult learners will appreciate the flexibility of flipped learning and have the motivation to guide their own learning successfully.

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References

Agirman, N., & Ercoskun, M. H. (2022). History of the Flipped Classroom Model and uses of the Flipped Classroom Concept. International Journal of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, 12(1), 78–88.

Al-Samarraie, H., Shamsuddin, A., & Alzahrani, A. I. (2020). A flipped classroom model in higher education : a review of the evidence across disciplines. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(3), 1017–1051.

Gonsalves, C. (2024). Generative AI’s impact on critical thinking: Revisiting Bloom’s taxonomy. Journal of Marketing Education, 1. https://doi.org/10.1177/02734753241305980

Jeet, V., & Sahotra, P. (2025). Active learning through the flipped classroom: Strategies to improve students’ learning and performance. Pakistan Journal of Life & Social Sciences, 23(1), 2395–2405. https://doi.org/10.57239/PJLSS-2025-23.1.00188

Saubern, R., Henderson, M., Heinrich, E., & Redmond, P. (2020). TPACK -- time to reboot? Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 36(3), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.6378

Thompson, L. (2025). Flipped learning [AI-generated image]. Canva AI Image Creator.