A Pilot Study on Civil Engineering Students Acceptance to a Flipped Classrooms Pedagogy

Abstract

This paper reports on student’s quantitative and qualitative feedback on a flipped-classrooms pedagogy used to deliver an undergraduate Civil Engineering course. The flipped-classrooms pedagogy was used in teaching some of the course modules. Students were asked to reflect on the perceived difference of the new method compared to the traditional method, used for teaching the rest of the course modules. The online survey results showed that the vast majority of students Agreed or Strongly Agreed that the flipped classrooms approach improved their learning experience and level of interaction. While students were initially doubtful about the new format, they adapted quickly and found it to be satisfactory and effective. A worthwhile suggestion raised by plenty of students to the instructor is to spare 15-20 minutes of the beginning of the face-to-face session for questions and answers and to recap the material covered at the primarily online session before starting class problem solving activities. Results of this study provide a statement of encouragement for Civil Engineering faculty to implement flipped-classrooms as a contemporary and effective teaching method.