A flipped mode teaching approach for large and advanced electrical engineering courses

Abstract

ABSTRACTA fully flipped mode teaching approach is challenging for students in advanced engineering courses, because of demanding pre-class preparation load, due to the complex and analytical nature of the topics. When this is applied to large classes, it brings an additional complexity in terms of promoting the intended active learning. This paper presents a novel selective flipped mode teaching approach designed for large and advanced courses that has two aspects: (i) it provides selective flipping of a few topics, while delivering others in traditional face-to-face teaching, to provide an effective trade-off between the two approaches according to the demands of individual topics and (ii) it introduces technology-enabled live in-class quizzes to obtain instant feedback and facilitate collaborative problem-solving exercises. The proposed approach was implemented for a large fourth year course in electrical power engineering over three successive years and the criteria for selecting between the flipped mode teaching and traditional teaching modes are outlined. Results confirmed that the proposed approach improved both students’ academic achievements and their engagement in the course, without overloading them during the teaching period.