A Problem-Solving Flipped Classroom Module: Developing Problem-solving Skills among Culinary Arts Students

Abstract

Problem-solving skills areimportant at the workplacein Culinary Arts for initiating innovative andcreative solutions. However, graduates from community colleges in Malaysia seem to haveonlyaverage level of problem-solving skills, while instructors do not seem to emphasise developing problem-solving skillswhen conducting lessons. Hence, providing more opportunities in solving real-world problems forwork is required. AFlipped Classroom approachbeginswith activities conducted with video lectureson key conceptsand gatekeeperquizzesto be completed before class andin-class phase spent onapplying concepts learned before class usingproblem-solvingactivities. In this study, aProblem-Solving Flipped Classroom (PSFC) module designed for students in the Culinary Arts programmein a Malaysian Community College based on Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction and the Cognitive Apprenticeship frameworkwas employed andimplemented among 30 first-semester studentsand one participating instructorin a selected Community College.The single group pretest and post test quasi-experimental design wasusedto investigate the effectiveness of the PSFC module for learning and problem solving.Using t-test analysis, thefindings indicated that the studentshad significant learning gains and improvement in problem-solving skills after using the module.Hence, the PSFC module could be usedin Culinary Arts at other Community Colleges and TVET institutions to improve problem-solving skills among Culinary Arts students.Thisis to ensurea significantamount of instructionat Community Colleges include problem-solving instructionusing authentic tasks at a level suitable for students to acquire problem-solving skills required in the workforce.